Hear now the reading of God's Holy Word, 1 Samuel 17, verse 48. And it came to pass when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took thence a stone and sling 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 to Sheareim 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 he put his armor in his tent. And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, 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 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 are thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant, Jesse, the Bethlehemite. Thus far the reading of God's holy word. Let us pray together. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word, which records the actions of those who trusted in the Lord. We pray that as we consider these words, that you might give us the same spirit that animated David, the spirit of almighty God, that you might be with us and strengthen us to love you, to serve you, and to follow in your ways, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. We've been considering the life of David, his humble background, his anointing by Samuel, the evil spirit of Saul and David's promotion and exaltation. We've seen the contrast between true and false patriots, Goliath, the foul-mouthed and profane secular patriot, Israel, the unbelieving and enacting patriots, and David, the true patriot. We saw David take up God's cause, David's zeal for God as the foundation of his love, both for his family and for his nation. This afternoon, we'll consider whose son art thou from verses 48 through 58. Verse 48 again, and it came to pass when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David. Notice that the Philistine arose. His intention was to come very close to David. He intended to do hand-to-hand combat. Matthew Henry says, he arose and came and drew nigh like a stalking mountain, overlaid with brass and iron. Remember how tall Goliath was, and David but a youth, but a stripling. So he intended to intimidate him, to come close and to crush him. But David's strategy was different. David did not intend to come close. He intended to throw long distance. But even though that was the case, note there in verse 48, that David hasted, it says, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. David was not fearful, in other words. He was bold. He was running. He hasted. He was quick. The Geneva Bible notes, being moved with a fervent zeal to be revenged of this blasphemy of God's name. Again, he was animated by him who is invisible. David's zeal for God moved him to act. I observed then that a Christian's bravery and fortitude is proportional to his faith in God's promises. Why is it that David hasted? Why did he run? Why did he turn all these armies to flight? But because he believed in the promise of God, in the power of God. What use then of this observation? Cultivate your faith. If your bravery and fortitude are proportional to your faith in God's promise, then you must build up your faith. We know that we have means to build our faith. How should we build it? Well, the scriptures say, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We must sit under and seek to profit from God's word. We must read it ourselves. We must read it publicly. We must hear it. I must preach it. You must hear it. Question 160 of our larger catechism asks, what is required of those that hear the word preached? The answer says, it is required of those that hear the word preached that they attend upon it with diligence. Do you recall from our reading in Acts 8? How did the Samaritans hear? They gave good heed, they paid close attention. They were diligent in hearing the word. Catechism goes on, diligence, preparation, and prayer. Examine what they hear by the scriptures, receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind as the word of God, meditate and confer upon it, hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives. Please open to the gospel of Luke chapter 17. Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us instructions concerning our faith. Luke 17, verses 3 through 5. Verse three, take heed to yourselves. If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day, turn again to thee saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. Now, why is it that they ask for an increase of faith? Because they could not do what he said. That's impossible. How is it that I could forgive all these times you're telling me to? Won't I become a doormat? So his answer is not, well, there's this other way, there are these five easy steps. No, they ask for an increase of faith. We need to believe more in your promises so that we can fulfill the duties that you've given to us. So we must pray. Turn over to Mark chapter nine. Mark chapter nine, page 1,010 of your Pew Bibles. Mark chapter 9, we'll start at verse 17. And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit. And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away. And I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not. He answereth him and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. Now it's interesting, the Lord does not directly address the disciples, but those words are meant for them. They were a faithless generation. And because of that, they could not do the thing that Christ commissioned them to do. This is not unusual with believers to be incapable of doing what God says. And that's why the Lord brings us to those points so that we can see we need more faith. Verse 20, and they brought him unto him. And when he saw him straightway, the spirit tear him and he fell on the ground and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, how long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, of a child, and oft times it hath cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Here again, the issue is faith. Verse 24, And straightway the father of the child cried out and said, With tears, Lord, I believe! Help thou mine unbelief! There we see the answer. He did not have enough faith to believe that Jesus could heal his child. That something from the childhood of this young man all the way till now could somehow, a word could take it away. He did not believe that. He believed that this was the Messiah, that he had some supernatural power, that he was a teacher sent from God, but he did not have enough faith, and so what is his response? Help thou mine unbelief. Pray, Lord, I believe, but help mine unbelief. This is how we increase our faith. Notice further down in that passage. Verse 28, and when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out? Remember he said they were a faithless generation? So then what's the answer? How do they build their faith? Why couldn't they do it? Verse 29, and he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. Fasting is where we deprive ourselves of physical good for a time so that we can benefit our spirit before the Lord and specifically in the means of grace, especially prayer. Prayer and fasting go together. But what did those two things do to us? Prayer makes us acknowledge that God is the answer to our problems. Fasting says, I will not give myself any bodily pleasure so that I can concentrate on that fact, that God has the power, that he has the solutions, that he can give me the faith or for the apostles so that they could cast out those demons. That's why they did not come out, he says, but by prayer and fasting. This is how we increase our faith. We cultivate our faith by the means of grace, by prayer, by asking God to give us faith, by hearing the word of God, since faith comes by hearing, by fasting and afflicting our souls and humbling ourselves before God that he might exalt us in due time. In the natural realm, if a man wants to become wealthy and he's currently poor, he will use means to accumulate wealth. He will find some way to acquire it and he will use means to preserve it. So also with a graceless sinner such as ourselves, if we want to be filled with faith, we use the means of acquiring and preserving that faith. This is how David had courage. David, as we've seen before, feared God. He had a zeal for God's name. He used the means that God had ordained. He respected his father and the authorities that were over him. He was faithful to the tasks assigned to him. He was diligent. He was conscientious in fulfilling the callings assigned to him. His faith then grew through those means. This is how we may grow our faith. Turn back to 1 Samuel chapter 17, please. We'll reread verses 48 and 49. And it came to pass when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took thence a stone and slain it and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead and he fell upon his face to the earth. Now you can read in Judges 20 verse 16 concerning the Benjamites. It says, So if you set up a target for them, They could get it within the breadth of one of your hairs of that target. That is bullseye. Every time they had skill. But imagine attempting to throw a stone at a moving target. Remember, Goliath is running toward him. He's coming to meet him. He wants to tear him limb from limb and try hitting him with that specific method of a stone. This was a singular act of God's providence. God intended to humble the Philistines and their giant and to exalt David to the throne of Israel. Notice it says there in verse 49 that it sunk. It sunk into his forehead. Now, this is a very interesting turn of phrase. In Exodus 15, 4, the same Hebrew verb is used where it says that Pharaoh and his chariots and his captains were drowned in the Red Sea, like dropping through water. This stone went right into his forehead. It sunk in there like a stone into water. Jeremiah, when he was put in the dungeon, it says that his feet sunk into the mire. It's the same verb, right through them, he's sinking down. Psalm 69 too says, I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me. This was, in other words, a supernatural force. The stone sunk in as easily as water. I observed then concerning our God that nothing is too hard for him. Nothing is too difficult for the God that we serve. He can cause an ax head to swim, 2 Kings 6, four through seven. He caused an old woman to bear a child, our mother Sarah, Genesis 18, 14. He caused a virgin to conceive without the help of a man, Isaiah 7, 14. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. What use then of this truth? First, we can rebuke our doubting minds. Please open to Psalm 78, page 630. We can rebuke our doubting minds with this truth that nothing is too hard for the Lord. Psalm 78, we'll start our reading at verse 17. This is during the 40 years wandering in the wilderness. And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most high in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their hearts by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God. They said, can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Is that even possible? Can he actually do that? Verse 20, behold, he smote the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people? Therefore the Lord heard this and was wrath. So a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel because they believe not in God and trusted not in his salvation. Therein lies the problem. When we see this unbelieving spirit, when we do not believe that it is possible for God to provide for us, we must rebuke with the anger of God and with the promise of God, the right and the left hands and say, no, this is not correct. God is able. He has promised to give us all that is for life and godliness for this world and for the next. and thereby we may rebuke our doubting minds. We must also, in our second use, comfort our weak faith. We need to be strengthened because we are weak. We believe, but help our unbelief. Our faith needs strengthened. whatever troubles, whatever menaces, whatever anxieties, whatever enemies, God can overcome them all. And we can be strengthened in our faith, in the knowledge of that truth. A third use of this fact that nothing is too hard for the Lord, it is a call to action, a rebuke for our doubts, a comfort for our weakness, and a call to action. God's commandments are reliant on his spirit working in us. We cannot do what God says without his help. So when we are called to action, it is a call to believe that God can work in us what he commands us to do. Augustine has a famous phrase, command what thou wilt and then give what thou hast commanded. This is the action of faith, the obedience of faith. We rely on God's promise and we do what his precepts command and his power will ensure that we have the strength to do it. For example, God says, Isaiah 58, 14, I encourage you to look at these verses later. He says to honor the Sabbath and what will he do? He will cause you to ride on the high places of the earth, Isaiah 58, 14. He tells us to meditate on his scriptures and be busy in the work he gives us and our profiting will be known to all, 1 Timothy 4, 15. He says that we are to give to God's work and reap spiritual benefits, Galatians 6, 6-8. He says to pity the poor, and God will pay you again. He'll pay you twice if you have pity upon the poor, Proverbs 19, verse 17. God says if you obey His commands, He will make you plenteous in every work of your hand, Deuteronomy 30, 8-9. He promises that if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. Acts 16.31. And faith says, I will do that trusting Lord that you will provide what you have promised. Back in 1 Samuel, please. 1 Samuel 17 again. Verse 50. identifies for us that there was no sword in the hand of David. This is no mere remark. Remember David had said in verse 47, the Lord saveth not by sword and spear. And here is the proof. No sword in the hand of David. Verse 51 says, that he took his sword, he drew it out of his sheath thereof, this is Goliath's sword David is taking, and he slew him and cut off his head. Please open to Psalm 10 concerning David taking the sword of Goliath and cutting his head off with his own sword. Psalm 10 verse two. Page 594 of your Pew Bibles. Verse 2. The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor. Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. Does that not suit Goliath? The proud man persecuting the poor, the little shepherd boy mocking him, cursing his gods, defying the armies of Israel. What happens to all of his devices that he imagined against Israel? Remember what he said to David, I will feed your carcass to the fowls of the heaven and the wild beasts of the earth. What happened to him? Where is his boasting? His devices returned on his own head. His sword turned against him and chopped his head off. Proverbs 26, 27, page 689. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. This is what we call poetic justice, where you immediately see the very thing a wicked person wants to use, they get punished with that thing. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. That's another instance. It's ironic in God's providence that these judgments come. Please turn to Hebrews chapter 2 concerning the greatest of all of these ironies. Hebrews 2 verse 14 concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest son of David. Page 1207 of your pew Bibles. Verse 14, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. What does the devil do? Kills, steals, destroys. He has the power of destruction. Apollyon is another word for him, the destroyer. But notice, how does Jesus destroy him? He dies. That's the power that Satan has, is the power of death. And through his death, Satan is vanquished. Satan is destroyed. His plans are overturned. The very weapon he brought against Christ to have him put to death, remember? Who entered into Judas Iscariot? The devil entered into Judas Iscariot. To kill Jesus, to put him to death, And yet Christ, with that very weapon of death, conquers Satan. Matthew Henry notes on this passage in 1 Samuel, God is greatly glorified when His proud enemies are cut off with their own sword. That is God's glory. I observe then, Though not always decreed for this life, perfect justice will be served in every case. Though not always decreed for this life, perfect justice will be served in every case. In Goliath's case, it was served right then and there. His own sword, his own threatened death against David comes against him, and his sword cuts off his head. God will avenge, he will repay, and as it pleases him best in the very time that he is designed for it, we must then use this precious truth to entrust our cause to God's justice. Whether in this life or in the next, God will settle all accounts and perfect justice will be fulfilled. Why is it that we have so many Psalms that teach us to pray for God's vengeance? To comfort us, to make us see that we must entrust our cause, our all to Him, and not put it on our own shoulders to bear ourselves to sink down in despair, but to lift that cause to Him, to roll it upon Him, as the Apostle says in the book of Philippians. Release your anxieties to the Lord. Bear the injustices of a fallen world, but know that God will cause all things to be righted in due time. Back in 1st Samuel 17 verse 51 says, and he slew him with the sword. Now it also said the same thing about the stone, that he slew him in verse 50 with that stone. What does that mean? Well, you find this often within the Bible. There will be a general description and then a particular description. The general description, he slew him with a stone, is that Goliath fell down, lost his power of thinking and of motion, and the deed was finalized with the sword where he finally slew him and cut his head off. Notice also there in verse 51, when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. Did they need to flee? Didn't they have an army mustard filled with soldiers? Wasn't it the Philistines who said that the Israelites could not have a smith to make swords? They had all the arms, they had all the men, they had a high ground that they could come down into the valley from. Why did they flee? It is because they had pinned their hopes on Goliath. And once their hopes pinned on Goliath fall to the ground and his head was cut off, their hopes are vanished, gone, finito, terminato, done with. And they become maddened, you might say, irrational. They're not thinking straight because their hopes were pinned on a creature. On Goliath, certainly a strong creature, but a creature nonetheless. The Westminster Annotations say, because they having placed all their confidence in Him, God justly struck them with terror and amazement when they saw their idol in whom they trusted taken away. I observe then that confidence in creatures is always vain, and it brings misery. What became of the Philistines' boasting in his gods and his arms? It's gone. With a little stone sunk into his forehead. What about the host of the Philistines' confidence in this great champion? Gone in a moment. Once their champion is gone, their confidence in the flesh, they're like the morning dew. They cannot stand before the army of Israel. This is their godless patriotism. with the hopes pinned on a creature. What use, then, of this truth, that confidence in creatures brings misery and is vain? Withdraw your confidence from all creatures, from yourself, your knowledge, your skill, your feelings, your observations, from other men, from angels, from governments, from churches, from politicians, from princes and kings, from family and from friends. We cannot rely upon creatures. In time, all creatures will fail us. And that is why we confess that the Lord is our rock, that He is our fortress, that Christ is the chief cornerstone. God will never fail us. As we looked at last week, Peter Martyr concerning the most beautiful sort of philosophy. that we may withdraw our faith from second causes and build our hope, all of our hope upon the one God, because His power is unstoppable. Was Goliath's force unstoppable? Of course not. Are any of the creatures that we tend to rely upon unstoppable? Are their revelations infallible? Can they fulfill the promises they make to us of happiness, of joy, of fulfillment? No. We must then abandon them. We must have no hope in them. We must embrace that most beautiful form of philosophy, placing our hopes in the creator rather than the creature. Now they fled, it says. The Philistines fled. And at your leisure, I encourage you to look up Hebrews 11, 32 and 34. By faith, it tells us, the armies of the aliens were put to flight. It was faith that caused them to flee. Now the Philistines, of course, are scallywags, they're liars. Remember what Goliath had promised. Verse nine of chapter 17, he said, if he be able to fight with me and to kill me, Then will we be your servants. What happens when he's killed? Do the Philistines fulfill their promise? Made through Goliath their champion? No, they flee. They're liars. They're not reliable. And so they must die. They sentence themselves to death. Verse 52 says that 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 to Sha'arim even unto Gath and unto Ekron. Now you'll see in the map attached to the back of your notes there's a small circle right here with a star inside of it. That is about, let's say, three miles to the west of where the battle took place. And the word She'erim means the two gates or the gate to two ways, possibly referring to the two major cities of Ekron and of Gath that it refers to. Another four miles beyond She'erim is Ekron. In any case, that's the location it's referring to. It's a good long run to be chasing someone down to kill them. Verse 53, and the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines and they spoiled their tents. The Westminster Annotations note, like wise soldiers not plundering before they had obtained a full victory. Now foolish soldiers will often fly upon the spoil while their enemies are running off. Instead of going and killing the enemies first, then you come back and you secure all the spoils for yourself. So this is wise. And I observe from this passage that an unlawful aggressive party, as opposed to one who's defending himself, an unlawful aggressive party in war forfeits his right to life, to body, to liberty, and to goods. This is the biblical teaching. If you attack someone else and you are not attacked first, if you're not acting defensively, you forfeit your right to live. You can die at their hands, in other words. Not only so, they can maim you. They can hack you in pieces. They can poke your eyes out and cut your toes off if they please. They can turn you into slaves. And, as here, they can spoil all your goods. They can take what was once yours. You forfeit it when you engage in an unlawful, aggressive war. We hear that we ought to be good patriots, and we should support our troops, come what may, regardless of the justice or injustice of their cause, or of the manner in which they enter into the fight. We ought to just say, God bless the troops in everything they do. That is the secular patriotism of Goliath, who believes in the Philistines and hates the Israelites, and aggressively go to spoil them. We must have justice in our military actions. We must engage in a lawful way in defensive warfare. Remember Jonas Clark, the colonial pastor? They're coming to confiscate the arms of the colonial men. He gets his men lined up on the front lawn of his church, and he does not allow them to fire until they're fired upon. Let them be the aggressor, and then you may, in defense of your freedom, kill, maim, enslave, and spoil. Those are the laws of war in Scripture. What use then? Do not escalate violence. but use all lawful means in defense of yourself and your goods. Do not be the aggressive party. Do not seek to come against others just in case they might come after you. I'm going to have to go beat you up. Do not escalate violence, but defend yourself and prudently assert your rights. For example, here they have the right of spoil as the defensive party. They could also kill them. They could enslave them. They could maim them. They had all those rights. And so we must be in the right, be defensive rather than offensive. Verse 54. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put his armor in his tent. Now this offends our modern sensibilities if we thought about it hard enough. Imagine cutting a man's head off and dragging it around and putting it up on a post and saying, look what the Lord did for us while the blood is dripping down David's arm. Think about that. It's gruesome. It's warfare. And it was not done by David in boasting or in pomp. but rather as he said in verses 46 and 47, so that all the world would know that there is a true and living God in Israel and that the whole assembly would know that God does not save with sword or spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. The head proves that, that God rules sovereignly over the affairs of men and gave it to whom he would. Peter Martyr says, this David did not with ostentation to get praise to himself, but to stir up the people by the sight of this monument to give praise unto God. That's what the head was. It was a monument to remind them, God has done great things for you. And so I observe military triumphs are lawful. and are to be used for the glory of God when the soldiers wage war on God's terms. A triumph, the apostle Paul refers to this in the book of 1 Corinthians, thanks be to God who always giveth us the victory. And he refers to the savor of life unto life and death unto death. Those who are saved, they hear the gospel and it smells so sweet. But those who are the enemies of Jesus Christ and the triumph, what happens to them at the end of that triumph march? Off with their heads. It doesn't smell so sweet if you're the enemy. It is lawful to have these kinds of memorials and monuments to remind us that God is the God of armies. The arm of civil power is entrusted to every man as God's steward. And therefore, in military actions, we are to be ministers of God's wrath, to avenge His quarrel against those who do evil. Thus wars must please God. They must be to maintain God's rights in the first table, men's rights in the second table. And when men fight, they must fight to win and to get it done for the glory of God, not the woke circus of the United States military, which makes a mockery of the civil sword. First use then of this doctrine. Pray for the United States military to repent of its war against God. So long as it continues warring against God rather than for his glory, we must not support its activities. We must not fund its global homo agenda with human capital, with our sons and daughters going to die for what? for lawless aggressive war, for the rainbow flag, for China? Why are we sending our children? Why do we praise their lawless exploits? David, as a true patriot, wages war and has the triumph march because he fought for God, not for man, and certainly not for perverted and ungodly man. A second use. We must train our sensibilities to conform to scripture. He carries the head of his enemy. He puts it up on a post so that all may see what God has done. In fact, when he goes and talks to the king, when he comes into the king's tent, what does he have in his hands? Goliath's head dripping in blood. Our sensibilities are not necessarily infallible. In fact, they're usually wrong. We must conform our sensibilities to scripture and not have some kind of effeminate misunderstanding that somehow now that Jesus came, all those evil bad things David did are now made right. If we have that understanding or misunderstanding of Christ's teachings, our nation will be corrupted and destroyed from within. And what will the so-called conservative party do about it? They'll be nice about it. When God says, cut their heads off and put it up for a memorial of my victory I gave you, they say, but that's not very nice. We can't do that. We must train our sensibilities in God's way of thinking rather than our own. Verse 55, 1 Samuel 17, 55, Saul asks, whose son is this youth? Now remember, David had been in Saul's court. He was playing the harp to keep him free from demonic attacks that he would have. So he knew him on some level, but not very well. The king had to engage with many people. He was in an extended, unsuccessful military campaign. It had been perhaps some time since David was in his court. Also, Saul was troubled by demons and distempers in his mind. Perhaps he forgot the events of chapter 16. We do not know. But we do know that he promised whoever would kill this giant, the king will enrich him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel. So the question is pertinent, whose son is this? Because I want to do good, I want to fulfill my promise to their house to be free. Whose son is this youth? I observe then blessings come through family. David is the son of Jesse. The son of Jesse is a type of Christ Jesus, our Lord. And what did our Lord Jesus Christ procure for his family? Freedom for his entire father's house, all those adopted within God's Testament. Freedom is given to us from the greater son. So I ask you, whose son are you? Whose daughter are you? Are you part of David's son's family? Jesus Christ, our Lord's household. He the firstborn and we inherit in him. If not, sue for God to adopt you. Beg and pray to him, Lord, take me into your family. Enroll me in that free house of the son of Jesse. The exploits of David's son bring great blessings. Whose son are you? Whose daughter are you? Verse 56, he refers to David as a stripling. Now a stripling comes from the word strip or stripe, primarily referring to a young man when he grows up from childhood to adulthood, he's tall and he's thin. That's the idea, David was tall and thin, he was a stripling. Verses 57 and 58. It refers again to David there standing with the king in verse 57 with the Philistine's head in his hands, dripping blood on the king's royal carpet. Again, these are outside of our refined sensibilities we have. Verse 58, David answers the question of whose son he is with the following, I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite. Now think with me about David's condition. He's anointed already to be king. He's promised by God through the prophet Samuel that he will be king. He's now conquered the enemy of the people, routed the Philistines, won the day, and how does he refer to himself? Well, I'm the next king of Israel. Get aside, move out of the way. I'm the conqueror, I'm the general, I'm the one who when everyone else was afraid, I was man enough to step forward and do what needed to be done. Is that what he says? I am the son. That is a subordinate position. And I am subordinated to someone who's your slave. That's the word there, servant. I'm the servant of a servant. In other words, the son of thy servant, Jesse, the Bethlehemite, though destined to be king, though on the heels of saving Israel, yet his mind is still humble. And we ought to follow such an example. Beloved, we have again observed the true patriotism inspired by the Spirit of God in our Father, David. We've seen how our bravery and fortitude is proportional to our faith in God's promise, and therefore we must cultivate our faith in the means of grace. We've seen how nothing is too hard for the Lord as a rebuke to our doubts, a comfort for our weakness, and a call to action in reliance on God's promises. We've seen how God's justice will right every wrong and therefore we must entrust our cause to the judge of all the earth for he shall do right. We've seen the confidence in creatures that it is always vain and brings misery and therefore make God our refuge. We've seen how unlawful aggressive warfare is forbidden by God and forfeits the rights of those who engage it. And therefore we must wage war and use violence justly and in defense of God and man's rights. We've seen how military triumphs are lawful and to be used for God's glory. And therefore we must pray for the repentance of the United States military. And also we must train our sensibilities according to scripture. We've seen how blessings come through family and therefore we must ensure that we are part of God's registry of beneficiaries as his sons and daughters. Psalm 33, 12 tells us, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. May we pray and work toward the reformation of ourselves, of our families, of our community and the Commonwealth of Virginia and this whole nation of the United States, that we out of a true love of God would truly seek the good of this nation, reforming it according to his word, relying on his promises and his providence, doing his will and waging war for his glory alone, amen.