And why does it help us in a battle? And Paul's, I think, list is a very good example of that. So Paul says weaknesses insults hardship, persecution, and difficulties. And I think one of the temptations here is to suggest that all of the weaknesses are kind of like internal, like I'm not very good at putting away sins. So therefore I'm weak, which means God is strong. Isn't that great? But one of the things that I want you to be clear about here is that Paul, in his list, is clearly not talking about personal character failures. I mean, surely he has them, but he's not thinking, oh, I'm weak because I shouldn't really be able to put up with more meetings. Or I'm weak because, you know, I mean, what's a shipwreck anyway? Terrifying. It's terrifying to be in the ocean. And we had a storm here. I was talking to somebody about, imagine being in the middle of the ocean, and this storm starts to roll in. And the lightning is crashing, and you're just like, what is going to happen to us? And this happened to him. He's like, I don't want to talk about possible hardships. I've had them all. I don't want to talk about things that might happen. They all happened to me. And that's why I'm weak. Like if I'm kind of hobbling up to the pulpit here, well that's because I got a beating a couple weeks ago. And I'm an old man. So don't focus on how weak I look. Focus on the things that I can't do. But Paul was also never confused about whether or not there was a war. Because it feels like war when that's what's happening to you continuously. something and somebody is trying to stop what he's doing. So we don't really have that circumstance in our own lives, but I would suggest to you that there are easy ways, in fact the Lord makes it easy for us, to step into the kind of suffering that will keep us small, and then keep us soft, There's easy ways. And I've come up with two of them. And you could probably add to this list in your own notes if you'd like. And I alluded to this yesterday, actually. The first one is have some babies. If you want to be weak and tired out, fill your house with small children. And that's not a criticism of kids. That's just a factual nature of raising up humans. Because the worst part about children is not all their needs, it's their wills. They're battling against you. It's a battle. And if it feels like one, that's because it is one. And it's not something you've done wrong. It's because the Lord wants them to someday be free from you. with him. And if they don't fight, even your own systems which you believe in your heart are the most godly means of raising children. Even you have succumbed to the world's systems of what is necessary for a child to become an adult. And you impose that on your children and they resist And they keep on doing it. I'm the only child, well, living within the proximity of my parents. My parents have five children. I'm the only child living in proximity of three children. They all attend the church they grew up in. I'm the only one, 10 miles away, going to a different church. My dad's like, what's the matter with you? I don't know, Christ lives in me. Where the spirit moves, who knows? takes you like the wind. And the other one is help people on the weekends. Pretty simple. Everyone's like, ah, the weekend. My chance for relaxation and refreshment. Move somebody. Watch their kids. Mow their grass. Paint their house. do their stuff, whatever stuff there is. Just help somebody on a weekend. Spend your whole Saturday doing somebody else's work. That's terrifying to me. I feel like my house would fall down if that's what I did. And it might. But there's an interesting question in there, right? Which is like, of course the Lord has given you duties and responsibilities which should not be shirked. But at the same time, where is it in your heart where you say to yourself, what I really need is some downtime? I can just imagine somebody saying that in warfare. I've just been doing this so long, guys. Just give me a break. And they're like, give us a break. Pick up your gun. You can't take a nap right now. But we have to remind ourselves that the power of the world is not the power of Christ. It's powerful. Surely it's powerful. It has all kinds of power. People with more money than they can possibly spend in the rest of their living life. And we know these people by name. They can't even spend all their money. What do they want next? Oh, they want everything. They were like, if only I could just translate this into a presidency. Actually, kingship, right? Because money, at that point, you're just like, oh, shoot. Now I can buy another 100 pairs of sneakers, but it's not even going to make a dent. And I can only wear one pair at a time. That's the problem with two feet, you know? I could attach some more legs to my... Okay, so this is the thing, right? The strength of the world promises all of these things, but when you have the entire strength of the world in your hands, immediately it's shown to be nothing. Because you're still just you, you tiny little powerless you, who still gets heart disease. And still having built a financial empire, now will reap the benefits of it in your old age. which means all the stress and the burden of working and working and working and working, it'll kill you. And all the things that the Lord has said will actually make the elder years of your life really beautiful and lovely and blessed are gone. Your wife and your children, all those things are gone, right? And so the power of the world is very powerful though, it is very powerful. Let us not suggest that there isn't power in the world's systems. They're so powerful. And that's why they're tempting. And they also assist us in position and our posture towards other people. I mean, just imagine, right, if like, you know what, Lauraville's free next year. We're just going to write a check for it. How much is it? Everybody count. Actually, we're going to invite all the other presbyteries, too. That's exciting, isn't it? It makes you feel excited. How would our posture change towards you? Do you need any help? No, we got that. We paid some people to come. Take care of it. We want you to have a really restful time this week. instead of prayer, which we do a lot of. And the Lord helps us. He's helped us all week. He's helped us continuously. And for the most part, He's helped our hearts not get upset and irritated. He's helped us to remain joyful on the last day of the year. So, chapter 21, David succumbs to the temptation of the world. He's an old man. Kind of thinking to himself, you know, I don't know. Passing on the kingship to my son. How big is this thing anyway? You know, I want to make sure things are secure. Everything's in order. So Solomon can be assured that he knows what he has. Joab said, May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are, and they are not my Lord the King, all of them my Lord's servants? Why then should my Lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel? David already knows he's doing something wrong. But I'm sure he could say, well, the thing is, this is really just a practical matter. Why are you making it spiritual? Why aren't you trying to spiritualize this job? Isn't this just a practical matter of counting people? We just want to know who's out there, what the demographics are. How many fighting men? But it's clear that a census actually has always been somewhat of a troublesome thing. We just have one, actually, in our own country. And why do we give a census? Well, I think the government promises us that we'll get better representation. But really, a census is actually much more useful for government. And it's like, did you feel better after you filled out the census form? You're like, oh, I'm so thankful I filled that out. No. It was nothing but a bunch of tedium. And nobody wanted to fill it out. And they were like, why are people filling out the census form? What is their sense of obligation and duty to help the country fill out the census form? Because everyone knows that censuses are about a couple things, right? One, how many fighting people do we have? What are the age demographics? If we had to draft a bunch of people, how many would we get? Two, taxation. Where's the money going? Where's it coming from? Strategic, right? Quite strategic, administratively. Third one is security of position. And in our contemporary form of using the world's power to assure us of what we know and how we can execute our own plan is what I like to call survey strength. If I survey enough people of the right kind, I can do some interesting statistical analysis, and I can find that 75% of people really loved Louisville this year. And 25% were somewhat disgruntled about all of the continental breakfasts. But you know what? Two-thirds are in the majority. And I really don't have to listen to those people. I'm right in what I have chosen to do. Be on your guard when people start counting in order to assure you that their position is right. Especially, I think, in this age of very quick information dissemination, it's very flashy, it's very interesting to read a statistic that says 89.2% of millennials now really favor these kinds of romantic relationships. 92% of the population is really actually not against these kinds of social changes. I bet if we surveyed the United States and said, shouldn't tax churches, everybody would be like, yeah, we should. They got to pay their dues. Of course they would. Church people would be like, I don't know about that. But we might just say, well, there's a majority, though. We can get that legislation passed. So the strength of the survey is an interesting one. We use surveys in our own congregation, and I wonder sometimes, what is a survey for? To really test whether or not people are on board with an idea, or to find out whether or not the strength of my idea is now I can claim everyone else. Well, everyone else agreed with me on the survey. Well, who wrote the question? I did. So they answered it the way you look. Well, let's not talk about the details, okay? I just want to assure you that everyone was on my side. Have you talked to all of them? I didn't have to, I did a survey. Talking to people would be really lazy and difficult and hard and probably I would get tired of it after a while and then I would just quit. So instead I'm going to do a survey. So the world is interested in things that will generate quick power. It's not interested in things like trying to get 100 people to consensus, which is extremely difficult. Read the history of the Continental Congress, and then thank the Lord that they were willing to go through all the arguments to actually get the thing written. And by the way, they weren't like, can we get back to that? I'll send you a follow-up email on that one. They were like, well, either we finish it today, right? Or you're going to have to wait for three months because I'm going home. And then I'll be back in three months. And when are you going to get here? I don't know. I'd say like around the 27th of June. But it might be the 29th. or the 25th if I can get this done first, but I don't actually know how things are going back home, so really it's indeterminate. An interesting thing is that in that instance, weakness plays to the advantage. Because it inspires patience. which is what you need when you want to rely completely and utterly on prayer as your weapon of war. How long, O Lord? How long? I've heard a commentary. Someone said, there's a commentary on the outcome of World War II. And they said, you know, it's interesting. One thing that people didn't really, people were really happy about all of the resistance that happened in the countries that were possessed by Germany and stuff like that. And even the military might that came and saved the French people, you know, D-Day and all that stuff. And he said, but here's the thing. How long would we have had to wait if we had said we should pray about this? We should pray for the end of German tyranny and wait for the Lord to do his work. Seems kind of peculiar. You're like, what do you mean? You're telling me that asking the Lord about a military outcome is reasonable? That actually that's a mode of action that one could take? Would it require a lot of long suffering? It would. But choosing the power of the world versus choosing the power of Christ puts us at odds with Christ himself. puts us at odds with him, right? Because it makes us fewer. And so we can stack up on our side people that we think are supportive of us, and we can dismiss the people who we don't really care about, right? That we don't love. Even our enemies, we can dismiss them. So David sentences, of course, right? In chapter 21. results in exactly what Joab predicted. The Lord's wrath is kindled against David for his senses, and the Lord gives him a choice. War with neighboring nations, famine, or a plague. And David immediately, he's like, oh, well, I didn't rely on the Lord during that moment past, but now I'm going to rely on Him now. And so the only thing I can do is entrust myself to the Lord because I can see that I have sinned greatly and His wrath has kindled against me. I can see that's true. And so he turns himself over to the Lord. He turns himself over, he says, okay, the only way out of my predicament, I have sought the power of the world, the Lord's wrath is kindled against me, now what do I do? The only way to do anything at that point is to repent and to return to the Lord. The only thing. And the great thing about God, well, one of the great things about him, is God already knows everything. He doesn't have to count. I mean, he knows all of those things. Like, he knows all the hairs in this room. He doesn't have to count. He can, but he doesn't have to. And the wonderful thing about the Lord is that he refuses to count those things that would give him an advantage. Your sins. He doesn't count your sins against you. So then David said to Gad, I am in great distress. And then verse 13, let me fall into the hand of the Lord for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of men. David is wise in understanding that to fall into the hands of the warring world is much worse, much, much worse than falling into the hands of a merciful God who is still full of wrath against those people who sin against him. But even God's wrath is better than a warring world. It doesn't seem like that sometimes. You're right. No, I don't know. The common criticism that I hear is that Christians are kind of judgmental, right? They're just judging. They think poorly of other people, and they kind of have a discriminating attitude about certain people and the way they live their lives. And especially people who have chosen not to follow the Lord, they kind of say, well, you've caused your own hurt and problems. And they criticize people. And that's bad, because that's bad. Why would we do that? And I agree, we are not to judge other people because our sins are just as great. But to tell someone the wrath of God is kindled against you is a mercy. Because otherwise they fall into the hands of the warring world. And to be in the hands of the warring world is to be subject to the continuous temptation of Satan. With no thought for salvation or preservation or security or peace. And Joab is clear about this, he says, I have no part of it in some parts. So David is clear, the wrath, you know, sometimes I think, we think to ourselves, wouldn't it be nice, wouldn't it be nice if things were as clear now as they were in the scriptures? You know, David looks up and he sees the angel of God with his sword drawn, and he's like, whoops, I did something wrong. No, thank you. Because David is terrified, and this guy doesn't get scared. He's terrified. He says, I can't go up there. I can't go up there to worship the Lord. He's over there with his angel and a sword. So David does what people do when they have turned to repentance and said, Lord, you are the power. You are the strength. I am nothing. You are everything. and he built an altar. Now the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And so David went up to Gad's word, beginning in verse 18, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons were with him, and with him hid themselves. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went up from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. And so, you know, David says, I'll purchase this piece of property. I've been told to go to an altar. And then the woman says, OK, you can have it free. And David says, no. And he gives him a large sum of money for this piece of property. And then what's interesting is that David discovers this is the place where the temple will be built, right? So in verse 30, but David could not go up before, right, to the tent of the tabernacle. He couldn't go up there where the ark was because that's where the Lord was with the angel. And so he's here. And then David said, here shall the house of the Lord God, and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel. Isn't this interesting? Why would a king want a census except to say, all this is mine? All this is mine. And instead he realizes that my error Well, it's not necessarily that I counted some things, but that I thought that I could use the world's strength and power to assert my kingship. And what the Lord will not give you is the people that he has made. That's what the devil is trying to do. He gives Solomon everything. everything a person could possibly desire. But he will not give him what people eventually desire after they have everything, the souls of men. And so David turns and is reoriented now. This is a common scenario for all of us and for all of scripture. Sin is committed. The Lord alerts us to our sin. We feel His wrath. And in repentance, the only thing you can do is to turn and to worship Him. And that doesn't just mean return to church where worship happens, right? Because praise and thanksgiving and all the rejoicing that comes is a spiritual sacrifice. That's what it is. And so anytime that you turn from your sin and you turn towards the Lord, immediately you'll be filled with thanksgiving. You'll offer a sacrifice of thanks because of what he's done. And that thanksgiving will be an offering that blesses everyone, not just you. So in chapter 22, what does David do? But he turns to build the temple. And he says in chapter 22, verse 5, for David said, Solomon, my son, is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent of fame and glory throughout all the lands. I will therefore make preparation for it. So David provided materials in great quantity before his death. And then David charges his son to build this temple of worship that is planned to be the most magnificent. Now, I actually have all my students read this, the ones who are interested in architecture and design. By the way, the temple was designed by the Lord, you understand that, right? Like, he gave the plans to David. This wasn't like, you know, the best that humans could do. So it probably was the most magnificent building that has ever been built. Pyramids are pretty good, but probably not. They're not wonderful, though, right? It's almost like the Lord is like, oh, he He allows us to continue to dwell on these things, whereas His own house, which He does not need for His own glory, all He wants is for us to praise Him. That's all He needs. That's the house that He's building, right? So in 1 and 2 Peter, when We learn that we are living stones building the house of God. That's what He wants. He doesn't want a house that lasts for all of human history. He wants us to praise Him for eternity. And that kind of house is hard to imagine. We can build our own house. We build beautiful, magnificent, large houses. And God wants none of it. So in verse 9 of chapter 22, he says, behold, this is what the Lord said to David, okay? But the word of the Lord, if we back up to verse 8, but the word of the Lord came to me saying, you have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house in my name because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I was just talking about this this morning in assembly, right? How does Christ build his kingdom? In Sabbath. When we put our hands to rest, Christ goes to work. That's the Mary and Martha principle. Sit before the words of the Lord and he will work through you and in you and out of you, and will build things more magnificent than you could ever have conceived of yourself. For his name shall be Solomon, and I shall give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever. So in repentance, and then in sacrifice, what does David do? He makes preparation for building. He prepares to build. The details about the temple are kind of hard to imagine. But if we go back to day two, and we think about the presence of God, and the largeness and generosity of God, what limit could there be to what we can give to him? There are no limits. So I did some fun little math. So in Chronicles 21 and 22, we've got the preparation. And then, as we see later on, in 28 and 29, David is kind of saying, this is, again, a charge to build this building. And he said, and here's some things that I have stored up for you so that you might build this temple of worship. Which, to me, sounds like a problem. A wise man builds an inheritance for his children's children. And all we have to do is realize that that's not really, we're not talking about wealth there. We're talking about the kind of order that even David brings to the kingdom that now blesses Solomon with a kind of kingdom that can be reigned with peace and without war. Can be reigned with peace and without war. So I think this is just helpful for us to keep in mind, okay? The cost of this building, back to the question of why we're weak and weary. Why are we so weak and weary? Except the building is costly. It's a costly building to build a house of worship for the Lord. So David says, with great pains, I don't have a note here, I think I'm in, Chapter 29. Flipping around, remember, story, not textbook, okay? With great pains, I have prepared, provided for the house of the Lord. The Lord gives us a picture of the cost. by giving an accounting of what David had dedicated to the Lord for the building of his house, right? Not wars of conquest, but wars of cleansing. All of the things that David brings into his kingdom in regards to wealth get turned over to this house of worship that he's going to build, that Solomon's going to build. And so I give a little bit of accounting. As you see, that's kind of interesting to me. 3,750 tons of gold. So our most precious metal, what everybody says you should get whenever the economy goes bad. which in today's dollars equals about $214,884,000,000. At today's gold prices, maybe gold will get less, I don't know. But I think it's interesting, it's even more than Jeff Bezos is worth right now. He's considered to be the richest man of the modern era. And that was just the gold that David had dedicated for the temple. And that was not his free will offering. So then in chapter 29, verse 3, Well, not to mention the fact that after he goes through this whole list of things that he said, Solomon, you take these things and you build the temple with these things, and then he says, and it's outrageous the amount of stuff that he set aside for him to build this temple with. It's just an exorbitant amount of resources and precious stones and metals, and he says, and to these you must add I have worked my whole life for this, and I have not done enough. I have warred my entire life for this, and I have brought gold and silver and gems of no accounting in so that you could build a house worthy of the worship of our Lord, and it is not enough. to these you must add. And to those of you who are young people here today, it does not matter how hard your parents and your grandparents have worked and given their lives to the church, to this you must add. The last thing I probably have time to say is that in this preparation, not using the world's strength and power, but turning to prayer, to inquiring of the Lord, and trusting in the power of Jesus Christ, to save you from all the things that you think might come, hunger, bad retirement, sickness, whatever it might be. It's the power of Christ that enables you to do these things. And you must know Him in order to receive His blessing. But here's the final thing that I think is important to keep in mind. In a war, a world full of warring people, wars of all kinds, physical, spiritual, economic. We might even say a war on drugs or the war on the pandemic, whatever you want to call it. Everybody, pay attention when people start talking. The world is always using war as its main means of fighting with things. And it thinks that everything is a fight. Everything is a fight. And in Christ is building a kingdom of peace. A kingdom ruled not by war, but a kingdom ruled by peace and rest. And what's fascinating, remember chapter 19? It's like even Joab, the general of the army, understands this, right? Like he, who better than him understands that when we go to battle, it is the Lord that fights for us. And it is not our strength. Joab is an incredible man. He has battled his battles. We read earlier in the week about how he had to divide his army, to fight his enormous, massive army coming to attack God's people. And he said, whatever the Lord does is good. I mean, that's how he felt. And he knew. But who does God give his peace and rest to? Not people who have built massive financial empires for themselves. Not people who have used the world's strength to rule over all of the things that they could possibly rule over. But instead he gives his peace and mercy to sojourners. People who have nothing. Only the clothes on their backs. And even those are filthy rags. And what he wants to give you is the clothes of righteousness. He wants you to come to him naked, with nothing in your hands, saying, I have nothing to offer you except all of myself. I give to you all. And he says, my grace is sufficient for you, and I will give you more. I won't just save you from your sin, I will glorify you into an immortal king and queen who will rule for eternity in peace and in rest. So at the end of our war against the world, We will do the things that people do when they have rest and peace. We will rejoice. We will give thanks. We will sit together and feast with the Son of God. And there will be a great celebration. There will be singing. There will be rejoicing. There will be clapping, I'm sure. All kinds of things. The things that we did this week. That's what we will do. Except we won't have to go and return somewhere where the war is still being waged. will be able to live in his peace and rest forever. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and your kindness to us. Bless us, Lord. Give us your power so that we may continue to serve in your kingdom, waging war against the temptation in our hearts, the sin in our lives, the sin in the lives of those we love, Those who have yet to know you, Lord, let us make them aware of the war that they live in. Let them not succumb to the peace and security promised by the world, and let us look forward to the rejoicing that will come in the peace of your kingdom, a peace that passes all understanding. In Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen. Is there anything I should say, Mrs. Wood? Just a reminder.