Anybody got any special prayer requests that they need to bring up today that we haven't talked about in the past? Yes? Yes, sir? Phillip Park's doing about the same. Anybody else? Good to see Ms. Joycey here today. How are you feeling? How's your breath? the swelling? Yeah, swelling. That's not good. I don't like pain. My wife and I were talking about that this morning. She said, oh, that's nothing. It's a good thing you don't have to have babies. I said, that's a good thing. If guys had to have babies, there'd be far fewer people in the world today for sure. All right, let's go ahead and pray then. Oh, Jesus, we're thankful that we can meet here again freely and not have to worry about reprisal. I don't know how much longer that's gonna be, but we're thankful that we have it as we speak. And now we come and we're thankful people. We're thankful for heaven, thankful for Jesus, thankful for the Holy Spirit that lives within us. We're thankful for the creation that you provided for, thankful for these bodies that you've given us and how they work so well. we're thankful that you've watched over us. Now we have a lot of needs that we bring for you, a lot of the sick folks, Mrs. Sanders, and Ernest Tristan is in rehab, and Phillip Parks with cancer, and Jesse Salas, again, cancer, and chemo, and Emmanuel, and Matthew as well, and then for Gladys and her arm and health, and then Mrs. Moss. My brother Plumstead, my brother Anderson, Mark Rackley, Mrs. Vaughn in her recovery, Ms. Craighead in her recovery, Betty Perry in the trouble she's been having. I asked that you'd undertake for each of those. Ms. Hauser as well with pain. I asked that you'd look out for these and watch out for them. And then we asked for my son, Tim, as they get ready to move and ask that you would bless their endeavors and bless them in Oklahoma City where they're going. And then we think of the, of our law enforcement officers and the trouble they've been having lately, ask that you would Undertake for them as well as our military and lower assets you deliver from this government that we're under at the moment We're thankful for Jesus. We're thankful for salvation. Thank for this time meet with us now in Jesus name. Amen. All right All right second Samuel We're moving right along. We're all the way over to 2 Samuel. And we've been in this series called Eight is Enough. I guess before I get too far along, I ought to mention that we've been praying for Timothy and Roshan that my wife told me I should tell you this. And she's good about that kind of stuff, knowing what to say. They sold their house. It was only on the market for, I think, less than a week. It wasn't on there very long. And so they sold their house, they've already signed all the papers and stuff, and they should be moving mid-October. So they're going to Oklahoma City, and we'll transition over the next couple years from being the assistant pastor to pastor up in Midwest City. That's called the Open Door Baptist Temple I believe. So they've got things in place. So you keep on praying for them. Then next week Lord Will and I won't be here. Brother Smith will be teaching in my stead. And then the week after that, Brother Joplin, I'll be doing it. So that's what's going on as far as the class and that kind of stuff. All right, so we've been talking about eight is enough, the different covenants in the Bible. We've talked about the Edenic covenant, the Adamic covenant, the Noahic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the land covenant, and we're already down to the Davidic covenant. That's number six out of eight. So we're getting along. The Davidic Covenant is another unconditional covenant that God has given to Israel. And when we consider the Land Covenant, Deuteronomy Chapter 30, if you remember, was the kind of the chapter that kind of lays out the Land Covenant. Well, the chapter that kind of lays out the Davidic Covenant, at least most of it, is in 2 Samuel Chapter 7. And so, if you look at verse 16, 2 Samuel chapter 7, and verse 16, it says, And thine house, now the house he's talking about is David's. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established, and then he uses this word, forever. So in thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established, and then he uses those words again, forever. So God gives him an unconditional forever, everlasting covenant, the Davidic covenant. Now, in laying a foundation of sorts, some background and groundwork so that we can understand it, I'd like to begin at the beginning of the chapter and we'll look at David's desire, his aspiration, if you will, his ambition for God. But even before that, I'd like to go back and review a little bit of the Abrahamic covenant because remember the Abrahamic covenant is kind of the... it's the foundation of the other three eternal covenants. the other three unconditional eternal covenants. When we look at the different covenants, we looked at the Abrahamic covenant, then we looked at the land covenant, we're looking at the Davidic, and we'll also look at the new next, but those last three The land covenant, the Davidic, and the new covenant, they kind of come out of the Abrahamic covenant. When we were looking at the Abrahamic, we mentioned that God told him He'd make of him a great land, a great nation. He mentioned a great name. I don't believe we're going to be able to get far enough today to talk about David's name, but God gave Abraham a great name and David was given a great name as well, then a great blessing, a great response. And then the last thing we mentioned in the Abrahamic covenant was a great legacy. his legacy. Under that great legacy, under that heritage, that family line that would come forth from Abraham would come a platform, a staging area, if you will, a starting place. And the platform would be the Abrahamic covenant. It's the platform. And then the land covenant, which we all looked at, which comes out of that. Remember, the very first thing the Abrahamic covenant looked at was a great land. God will give him all this land, so this great land. And then the Davidic covenant points to David and his throne and the great name and the great legacy that comes out of the Abrahamic covenant. And then the new covenant will come next. But there's this platform from the Abrahamic covenant that everything else comes out of. And when we're talking about the Abrahamic covenant, I hope you remember Genesis 12, everything changes. Now 1 through 11, God's just looking at human history in general on up. But once He gets to Genesis chapter 12 and Abraham comes along, everything changes. And God starts the Israelites and all of human history goes in a different direction and God deals with people a little bit differently from that point on. They become His chosen people and God looks at Israel as His folks and He kind of changes a little bit the way He deals with humanity. And so it's a little different, so it changes. And in that platform comes, we talked about a living link. There's an unmistakable, unbreakable, undeniable link between Abraham and his covenant and Jesus. It was all the way from Abraham all the way over to Jesus. We looked at the lineages of Jesus. Remember the two lineages, if you remember, one's in Luke and one's in Matthew. Luke presents Jesus as the Son of Man. Matthew presents Him as the King of the Jews. Well, when Matthew begins his lineage, he begins in a kind of an unusual way. We can contrast that with Luke's Luke's Luke 3 23 says and Jesus Himself began to be about 30 years of age being as was supposed the son of Joseph and which was the son of Heli what he does he starts there and then he goes backwards all the way down to Adam Luke 3 38 which was the son of Venus which was the son of Seth which was the son of Adam which was the son of God So, I mean, he just starts at Jesus and then starts recounting history and goes all the way back to Adam. He doesn't miss a beat, just shh, all the way down. He gives a lineage like you'd expect a lineage to be given. But when we get to Matthew, it's a little bit different. He puts a capstone, if you will, an introduction, an opening remark in the lineage of Jesus and Matthew, which is important to point out. Matthew 1.1 says the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. And then it says this, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And then he goes on, goes back and gives the entire lineage. But he starts off with that introductory remark, if you will, that capstone where he says, where he puts the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Notice those two persons that were mentioned other than the Lord Jesus, Abraham, the first Israelite, the first Hebrew, the first Jew, but also David, the great king, the great leader, the great monarch. And so you see he puts that capstone on there and introduces us, he introduces Jesus in this lineage with David and Abraham both in there. Jesus becomes the living link from Abraham but also from King David. And those two are mentioned. It all stems back to the Abrahamic covenant because obviously David, a Jew, comes out of Abraham. So, this capstone that ties Jesus with Abraham and David, it'd be kind of like someone recounting the presidents of the United States. They might say something like, well, you know, there was George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and then FDR, and then go back and list all of them. You know, but give an introduction of George Washington, who was the first president, Abraham Lincoln, who was the great uniter when the country needed it, and FDR, the one who held the presidency the longest. a little over 12 years all told. But you give the highlights and then go back and give each one individually. That's kind of what he did in the gospel of Matthew when he lays out, put the little capstone on top and ties Abraham and David with Jesus. And so David was in the line of Jesus to show the rightful place, the power, the past to be the king. So, you know, David's in there, the great king, and Jesus comes out of that, so Jesus can be the great king. But it starts with David as far as this Davidic covenant goes in his kingdom and his life. So let's start looking at the Davidic covenant. First off, we'll give you a definition. And in its simplest form, here you go, this is real, real short, real concise. It'll give you everything you need to know about what the Davidic covenant is about. God promises to David an eternal seed and eternal home. excuse me, eternal throne. An eternal seed and an eternal throne. Those are the things. He's always going to have a family going, and He's always going to have this throne. Now the land covenant promised land, framed by the water borders, Nile River, the Mediterranean Sea, the Euphrates River and Red Sea. That whole area was promised to Israel. And there's a passage, there's a few verses, there's a prophecy, if you will, that Mary, the land covenant and the Davidic covenant kind of brings them together. See, the Abrahamic covenant comes and then all those others come out and sometimes they kind of get mixed up. The land covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the new covenant kind of get intermixed sometimes. Well, we can see the land covenant and the Davidic covenant intermixed. this idea of an eternal seed and an eternal throne that David had been promised. We can see it married together in Ezekiel. Look over at Ezekiel chapter 37. Ezekiel 37. If you don't recognize Ezekiel 37, that's the prophecy of the Valley of the Dry Bones. So Ezekiel 37 and verse 1 it says, and that the hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. and caused me to pass by them round about. Behold, there were very many in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry. So the valley of dry bones. You might have heard of that song. You know that song that they used to sing? The toe bone connected to the foot bone, the foot bone connected to the heel bone. You know, all them bones, them bones, them bones. dry bones, them bones, them bones going to walk around them bones, them bones, them dry bones. Now hear the word of the Lord. Come out of this Ezekiel 37 and everybody knows about the dry bones. At least most that have been around preaching that all. You've heard somebody preach about the dry bones but as you get down towards the end of the chapter God is drawing some conclusions. He's making an application if you will and even giving a revelation. Look down at verse 24. Ezekiel 37 24 it says in David my servant shall be king over them and they all shall have one shepherd they shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them now he's talking about a future Israel And he said, David, my servant, shall be king over them. Verse 25, it says, and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob, my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt. Remember the Abrahamic covenant passed on to Isaac, passed on to Jacob. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob, my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children and their children's children forever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever." So you can see how it's tied together. The land covenant and the Davidic covenant come together there. God promised him an eternal seed and He promised him an eternal throne. And we can see that kind of coming together in Ezekiel 37. So the Abrahamic covenant begins and starts and initiates the process. The land covenant and the Davidic covenant continue, further escalate the Abrahamic covenant. I was trying to figure out how to illustrate this and help people get it. I thought about this, there's a book out, I don't remember the exact title of it, but there's a book out that shows the path that the King James Bible came from. and it talks about a seven full process if you will of how we got our King James Bible. It starts with the Wycliffe Bible and then it went to the Tyndale Bible and then the Coverdale Bible, then the Matthew Bible, then the Great Bible, then the Geneva Bible and finally the King James Bible. So, you've got this building of sorts to, I think, what's the best English version of the Bible, the King James. But there was a building process that gave us the King James Bible, and there it is. It started with the Wycliffe Bible and with the King James Bible and built on each other. And so, each built and orchestrated into the King James Bible. Or how about this? I thought about numbers. Numbers you know children you teach little children. Let's go ahead and count now here we go one two Three and you go over this over and over and over again and talk to the three-year-olds Start learning the numbers learn their alphabet and learn their numbers, so you got to give them these numbers now when it starts off It's very simple You start with numbers, it's very simple, but all mathematics are built upon the foundation of that one, two, three, four, all addition, all subtraction, all multiplication, all division, all algebra, I hate algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, I mean all of it. All the, even though it becomes very complicated in the end, at the beginning, it's very simple. There's just these building blocks that we use, and as we put these building blocks together, it becomes more and more complicated and larger and bigger, and it explodes into algebra. I don't know who thought algebra. Whoever thought of algebra, we need to take them out and do something with them. I didn't like it. Geometry, I love geometry. Trigonometry was great. Algebra, not so much. But it all starts with numbers. So it's the same thing. There's the foundation of numbers, and then all this math comes out of that. Well, the same thing with this Abrahamic covenant. It starts, and then the land covenant, the Davidic covenant, the new covenant, they kind of come out of that and expand it and get bigger. So that's the definition, if you will. It's David's promise, this eternal seed and this eternal throne. So now let's look at some details. First off, you can go back to 2 Samuel chapter 7. Some details, first off we'll look at David's desire. David's desire. And we'll start in verse one, 2 Samuel 7, one, it says, and it came to pass when the king sat in his house, now the king there is David, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies, that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, see now I dwell in a house of cedar. So he says, you know, I live in this great big house, this wonderful house of cedar. I mean, they built me this great big house. So see now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. He says, here I am living in this big monster house, you know, this great house that was built and God lives in this tent. Verse 3 says, And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart, for the Lord is with thee. Now David has experienced peace all around Israel with all the people that live around them, the blessing from God, the blessing from Jehovah, the blessing from his Lord. And David was thinking about this, he was thinking about the place that God dwelled. I'm here, here he is living in his nice house, and he's thinking, and God lives in this tent. Now I understand that God dwells everywhere. I'm the present, I get that. But the Shekinah glory, the presence of God dwelt in that tabernacle unlike any other place on the earth. So the physical presence of God was manifested in that tabernacle differently than any other place on earth. So God kind of dwelled there. So David's thinking, you know, I live in this nice house and he lives in this tent. I mean, the God of the universe living in a tent. So he's looking to this tent structure, this portable thing, this mobile thing, this easily movable thing. And David's thinking, I live in this majestic house and God lives in this tent, this structure of curtains. You ever been camping in tents? We used to, we lived in New Mexico a long, long time ago and another lifetime ago it seems. And, you know, they have a lot of camping in that area. You go up in the mountains and you go camping. Somebody said this about camping and I think they were right. They said camping out is like paying top dollar to live like you're homeless. That's right. That is it. I mean, why do you want to go out and live like you ain't got nothing? I mean, you know, you go out there and we're going to just live on the land. Really? I mean, I thought that's why you had a job, so you wouldn't have to do that. So, you know, camping out is like paying top dollar to live like you were homeless. That's about right. But the point is David's desire was he wanted better for God. Don't miss this. He wanted... I better forgot in my little thing I put on Facebook yesterday about the class today. I mentioned that David wanted to move God. Now isn't that something? David wanted to move God. He wanted to move Him from that tent-like structure into a house. He wanted at least God to have a nice house like His own. I mean, it's God of the universe. That was His desire. God wanted, or David wanted God to have a better place to dwell, a better place to live. Now, we'll talk about God's funny response in a bit, but the idea is this. David's desire was he wanted better for God. Did you know God blesses people's desires if they're right, if they're correct, if they're reasonable? God will bless folks if you have the right or correct or reasonable desires. God even blesses less than perfect folks if they have right desires. The perfect example I can think of in all the Bible, look back to Judges chapter 14. Look back at Judges chapter 14. I think this is one of the best examples in all the Bible about God blessing somebody that had less than perfect character. It's a classic example, classic instance, if you will, classic case. Judges 14 and verse 2, it says, and he, now that he's Samson, he came up and told his father, now he didn't ask, he didn't, he didn't come and see what the, you know, try to talk to mom and dad, see what they think about this. He came up and told his father and mother and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, now therefore get her for me to wife. Now, doesn't that sound like a good Christian man? He came up and told his father and mother and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. Now, Philistines, that's the enemy. And he's an Israelite. You know, the Israelites are supposed to marry Israelites. Now in the New Testament age, Christians are supposed to marry Christians, but in those days, when the physical was the important thing that God was looking at, Israel would marry Israel. So he says, now therefore go get for me to wife. Verse 3, Then his father and mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well. So, now here's a person who has not good character. They're not a good Christian guy. And when you look at what they were supposed to be doing in those days, they were supposed to marry within their tribe. And he mentioned, can't you find somebody from your brethren, from your tribe, or at least of the Israelites? He said, oh no, I want that Philistine woman. She pleases me. I want you to notice what the next verse says because it tells a lot. Verse 4, But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, and he sought an occasion against the Philistines, for at the time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. Now he may have been going about it the wrong way. Saffson was going about it the wrong way, but he had the right desire. He wanted to lead Israel out of captivity. So he had the right desire. He went about it the wrong way, but he had the right desire. He dishonored his parents. He was gonna marry outside of Israel, but it is hard. He had the right desire. He wanted to do the right thing, even though he was going about it wrong. Then later, look over to chapter 16. We're talking about less than perfect people that God blesses their desires. Later he actually commits more infractions. Judges 16.1, Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. Really? We're talking about Samson, the great judge. Samson, you know, when you go through the book of Judges and see that God raises up these deliverers, Samson is one of those. And yet here's a guy that dishonors his parents, refuses to marry people that he should have, and goes outside the boundaries of where God would want him to go, and then here he goes into an harlot. Verse four further says, and it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sarik, whose name was Delilah. You remember her, right? Samson had some bad weaknesses, particularly towards women and females. He particularly had a big character flaw there. But underneath all that, he was trying to deliver Israel. He had the right desire. He went about it the wrong way, but he had some right desires. It's interesting, Samson was strong enough to defeat everybody else. I mean, all comers, all combatants, he could take care of everybody, but he couldn't control his own self. He couldn't control himself. He couldn't control his own emotions. He couldn't control his senses. But despite all that, Despite all this, I mean, if you were to give a history of someone that dishonored their parents, that married outside the boundaries where they should have gotten married, visiting prostitutes, and you'd think, God could never use a person like that. People have said this over and over again, despite all this, it was said about him more than anyone else. Judges 14, 6, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. And he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand, but he told not his father and his mother what he had done about the land. But the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and said about him more than anybody else. Why? He had the right desire. Now, he went about the wrong way, but he had the right desires. What are your desires for God? What are your longs for God? What are your yearnings for God? Because if they're right, if they're correct, if they're sincere for God, God will bless you, He'll enable you, He'll equip you, and He'll even energize you to get it done. In reality, if God had to only use honestly perfect people, He couldn't use anybody. You know Romans 312, they're all gone out of the way. They're all together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good. No, not one. We're all sinners. So if God had to use somebody that was perfect, He couldn't use any of us. But despite our imperfections, if we have the right yearnings and the right longings, the right desire for God, God will use us. So, David's desire, we get back to David's desire. David's desire then was to move God. He wanted to take him out of that little tent-like structure, made a very small little tabernacle. He wanted to move him out of that tent structure, put him in a house. Can I make another application here? You know, he's wanting to move God from that little tabernacle into what would become the temple. you know, the Solomon's Temple. So, David wanted to move God from that little tent-like structure into the magnificent temple. That was his desire. He wanted to move God to the temple. You know what the temple of God is now? 1 Corinthians 6 19 what no you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God and you're not your own David desired a better place He desired a better dwelling place. He desired a better house for God Should not that be our desire? Provide a God a better place to live a better place to dwell a better place to abide and I was thinking of this, remember Jesus, he's in us. Christ in us, the hope of glory. He's in us. So everywhere we go, everything we do, he with us. If you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit inside, you're saved, you have his spirit. If he's in you, everywhere you go, everything you do, God is with you, he accompanies you. Paul adds this warning a few chapters before in chapter 3 of 16 and 1 Corinthians. And know ye not that ye are the temple of God? And the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. So here's David's desire. He wanna move God from this little tabernacle into the temple, give him a better place. That should be our desire, give him a better place. Let me illustrate this. We said that everywhere we go as a Christian, God goes with us. So let me give you a few places that somebody might go and you tell me whether that would be honoring to God or whether it would not be honoring to God and whether God would be happy about it or God wouldn't be happy. It's pretty simple. How about this church? You think God would be honored you coming to church? All right, that'd be a good place. You go and the Spirit of God will be happy, giving him a good place to dwell. All right, let me mention another one. How about a bar? Not so much, right? He'd be happy at church, but not so much in the bar, because if you as a Christian go to a bar, you're taking God with you. into the bar. Going to your job so you can feed your family. You think he'd be happy about that? Yes, he would. He'd be happy to be there. How about this? Some kind of club where they serve alcohol and stuff. Probably not so much, huh? Friend's house? Maybe so. Crack house? Not so much. I'm just trying to get you to see David's desire was to give God a better place to stay. Well, how about we try to do the same thing? We try to give God a better place to stay. is not just about where we go, it's our behavior, it's our actions, our thought processes. However we behave, however we hold ourselves, however we carry ourselves, Jesus is right there with us, accompanying us along for the ride. In short, we should be concerned and focused and motivated to provide and offer and afford God a more reasonable, a more appropriate, a better dwelling place like David did. David wanted to give God a better place. So David's desire. Then next is God's deliberation. I see how happy you were and how excited you were about that one. How about this one? God's deliberation. That's, we'll break it up in two different sections. First off, the inquiry, God's inquiry, verses four through seven. It came to pass that night that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, thus saith the Lord, shalt thou build me in a house for me to dwell in? God was asking David, do you think I need a house? You think you need to build me a house? Whereas, I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle in all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel, spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I have commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me a house of cedar? It's kind of comical. God says, did I ever ask you to do that? I mean, since Israel was taken out of Egypt and I've walked with you everywhere you went, I've been with you, been in this little tent. Have I ever asked anybody to build me a house? I mean, God, he's the God of the universe. Why would he need a house? He said, I ever asked you to build me a house? I've never asked anybody to build me a house. I just thought it was kind of funny. When did I ever ask for a house? When did I ever ask for a haven? When ever did I ask for a home? Obviously, this is a rhetorical question. Now, a rhetorical question is a question that you ask without expecting an answer. In other words, the answer is so obvious, to ask the question is to answer it. God was not looking for an answer. He was looking to make a point. He was trying to give David a cause to ponder a bit, to use him to persuade his mind a little bit. A rhetorical question. Let me illustrate this. I was thinking about this. A husband and wife are in a car. And the wife is fidgeting around with her purse and fidgeting around with different things. And he's sitting there and they're ready to drive off. And he's sitting there and he's got his seatbelt on, but she still hasn't got hers on. He'd like to wait for her to put her seat belt on, because after all, he'd like her to be safe. So he's sitting there, and she's still fidgeting around, putting stuff around. And finally, the husband looks over and says, you're going to put your seat belt on sometime today? Now, he ain't looking for an answer. And he doesn't want the answer that she's going to give him. He's not looking for an answer. He's looking for action. He's looking for her to think about, put her seat belt on. Of course, he's gonna get an action. He's gonna get a reply. He's gonna get a response. And hopefully, if he's lucky, he's just gonna get a look. But you got the idea that this rhetorical question, this rhetorical question is, you know, well, God was doing the same thing in making this inquiry. God was presenting or laying out or putting forth this idea. Did I ask anybody to make me a house? So the inquiries, verse four through seven, but then actually the impression, God's impression of what he was doing here. God's pretty impressed with David's desire. He's pretty impressed with David's initiative, with David's wish. And we're not gonna be able to get into the whole thing. We won't have enough time, but we'll start into it. Verse eight. Now therefore, so shalt thou say unto my servant David, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep coat, from following the sheep to be ruler over my people, over Israel. And I was with thee, whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name. We talked about Abraham the covenant the great name. Well, here's David's great name and made thee a great name like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth So God begins in this section and gives him a bit of a review, an assessment, if you will, an evaluation of David's life, and he's looking at David's public life in a snapshot, a little quick pick, if you will, and he talks about from a sheep coat, where he watched sheep for his father, all the way to the throne, ruler over all Israel, all Jews, all Hebrews. When I was thinking about this, I was thinking of Brother Hiles. or the house. He told the story, I don't know how many times, I've heard it several times from here. He used to tell about a little boy, a little poor barefoot introvert boy. And at that point he was just a little boy, but he became, at least in his time, probably the greatest pastor of the entire world. I'll read his testimony of sorts from his words. He said, I'll never forget the day that I walked into the Fernwood Baptist Church as a five-year-old lad. The beginner superintendent, whose name was Mrs. Bethel, took me to the beginner department. She put me on her knee. My little bare feet were obvious. My knees were showing through the holes and through the patches of my pants. I had a little white T-shirt, and I noticed that all the other little boys and girls had on shoes, and the boys had white shirts and ties. Mrs. Bethel put me on her knee. She said, Boys and girls, we have a visitor this morning. His name is Jackie Boy Hiles. Aren't we glad to have him? Nobody said a word. Then Mrs. Bethel looked at me and said, Jackie boy, Jesus loves you. I'll never forget how I felt. Mama had told me that, but nobody else had ever told me. I looked up and said the first words that I had said that morning. And I asked Mrs. Bethel, does Jesus love me as much as the little boys and girls that have on shoes? A tear escaped her eye and faded her brow as she said, Jackie boy, He probably loves you more than He loves anybody here this morning. I don't know what your story is, what your testimony is. That was his. But we all have a testimony. We all have this idea of where we came from and now we're saved. We're child of the king and all that kind of stuff. That's what God was doing. God was kind of rehearsing this idea of where David came from. He came from the sheepfold all the way to the great king of all the nations. And David had led Israel to victories over all their enemies and all their adversaries and all their opponents. Verse 9 says, And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. He stated, David had a great name, like unto the name of all the great men in the earth. And we're gonna have to stop there. We're gonna look at the word name, that word that's used, name there, it's an interesting word. It's S-H-E-M. They tell me it's pronounced shame. Remember Shem, Noah's son, that word Shem? Well, that's the word that usually is translated name in the Bible. We'll look at that and get something from there. But we're looking at the Davidic covenant. And God promises David an eternal seed and an eternal throne. And we'll find that mostly in 2 Samuel 7 as we continue the next time. Again, next week, Brother Smith. The week after that, Brother Joplin. And let's go ahead and pray. We'll be dismissed. Thank you for coming. Father, I ask that you bless what's been said. Help us to put these things into practice. Help us to keep our vessels in check and provide you a better temple. The same desire David had. Bless these folks. We love them. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.