All right, you may be seated. Let's open in our Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy. I want to get to the story of King David when he fights Goliath that we might learn some things from it. It's a very familiar story, but I want to start with some background. I wanna start with some background. For example, not for example, beginning in Deuteronomy chapter seven, you guys might be familiar with the scene here. This generation, or rather, they're being given God's law. God had chosen Abraham, promised that he would multiply him, that he would make him into a nation, and God fulfilled that promise. God also foretold that the family of Abraham would end up in Egypt, and for several hundred years, Abraham's family would be under bondage, but then God would come and deliver them. And of course, God did that, being true to his word and being God, who does not lie. And then God sent Moses, and the people are given Land. But the land is occupied by different peoples, wicked peoples is how the Bible describes them, who engage in all kinds of God displeasing practices, such as infanticide, human sacrifice, immorality of all different sorts. And so the Lord decided to judge them Because the Bible says that God put up with it for a long time. But then he speaks to Israel and he lets them know that he's giving Israel this land, not because there was anything special in them, but he has some other purposes. And so let's just read, I guess, it's Deuteronomy chapter 7. I guess we can read from verse 1. We have time. When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and Canaanites, the Perizzites, and the Hivites, the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves. And when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons. Now, what is God's reason for commanding these specific things? Verse four, for they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods, then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you and he would destroy you quickly. But thus shall you deal with them. You shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their asherim and burn their carved images with fire. When we read this, or when people read this, At the surface level, it comes off as harsh, and God is even judged. I know that there are many atheists who've written about passages like this, and they stand in judgment over God, accusing God of genocide and all other kinds of things that are considered wicked when man initiates something like this. But we have to understand that this is God, and he's never wrong. and God is holy and God is right in all of these actions. God forbid that we ever in a position like unbelievers to judge God. And so that's a really good rule when reading the Bible. If you come across a passage where it just doesn't seem right to you, just, it's safe to assume that God is right and we're not, right, everyone with me? I don't have my glasses so I can't see you guys, so. I don't wear glasses when I read, because I need them to see far and, So anyways, now let's look at verse six, and here's what God says to Israel. He says, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Now what is it about Israel that God chose them? He says in verse seven, it was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Now in Deuteronomy chapter nine, he warns them again, look at verse one. Here, O Israel, you are to cross over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, who can stand before the sons of Anak. Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you, so you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly as the Lord has promised you. Do not say in your hearts after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, it is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land. Do you see that? Now again, God is judging these wicked nations for all of their wicked practices. But he's using Israel to carry out his judgments. So this is God's battle. This is God's judgment. And Israel is his instrument in carrying out judgment. But also God has a plan and a purpose for Israel, but God needs Israel to understand that it is not because of them or anything in them that he's giving them the land. And he clarifies, let's read verse four again. Do not say in your heart after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, it is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land or areas. It is because of the wickedness of these nations. that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God is driving them out from before you that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and Jacob. So God has spoken about the spiritual condition about these wicked nations. And God warned Israel not to think too highly of themselves. Remember I've said before, I don't know where people get this idea that God sits up in heaven and then just praises man. You're wonderful, you're great. I don't see that in scripture. Now, man are made in the image of God, and certainly there are things that are said positively about man, such as that we're fearfully and wonderfully made, but that has more to do with God's design of our body than anything we've really accomplished. You know, like, did you choose the color of your hair? Like, we didn't even make ourselves, so there's really nothing that we can boast about in that respect. Now, look at verse 6. That's very negative. That hurts their self-esteem. And then he reminds them about their track record. He says, remember, and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. And he goes on reminding them. Israel, don't think that it's because of your righteousness, because if we're going to go there, I can remind you about your track record. So, what comes up continually is the absolute patience of God with Israel. You have a question, Isaac? Well, that's a good question. He did, but there's rebellion in different ways. So God's choice of Israel sets them apart, but we're gonna get there, maybe. So this is the background. We already know how Israel started. They're stubborn, stiff-necked, but God puts up with them. He puts up with them. It really is amazing how much patience God exercises with them or towards them. Now look at Numbers 33. Now, you also have to remember that sometimes God speaks collectively of a people, and if Israel is described as a whole, It doesn't mean that every single individual is as the whole. So sometimes Israel is being addressed corporately. It doesn't necessarily mean that every single individual is just as, because we do see individuals within Israel who do exemplify faithfulness and loyalty to the Lord and they do not, represent, you know, be stiff-necked and all of that. So, verse 50, Numbers 33, the people are getting ready to cross over the Jordan River and begin to drive out the people who were occupying these lands. And in verse 50, it says, and the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it for I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall Inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance. Let's go down to verse 55, because I'm reading more than I intended. Listen to what he says. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. and I will do to you as I thought to do to them. You ever heard the saying, man, this guy is a thorn in my side. It describes someone who is completely troublesome to you. And Paul describes or uses this saying when he's talking about being afflicted. He says that he received a messenger of Satan who was a thorn in his side. That's where that saying comes from. Now, what does this have to do with What does this have to do with David and Goliath? Well, this is several generations in, they end up having trouble with the Philistines. Why? Why are the Philistines still around? Because they did not do as God commanded. Psalm 106, 34, 35 says, they did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them, but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did." So several times in Psalms. So that is the history of Israel. They were continually stubborn, stiff-necked. And they did not. What happened is they were battles with Joshua, and they little by little began to drive out the peoples, but they didn't complete the job. At some point, they just stopped doing it, and they began to settle down in their houses. And so that's what they did. They didn't listen to the Lord. So now we can turn to 1 Samuel. chapter 16, this is why this situation is the way it is. This is why they're having trouble with the Philistines, because the earlier generations didn't drive them out as they had been commanded by God, and now these later generations are dealing with this problem. But here's where David comes as an exemplary, is that a word? Exemplary figure? Is that a word? Okay. There's some words I don't use it often, but they come to mind. I'm like, I think this is the proper usage. He is a very good example here. Not only is a very good example, but he prefigures Christ. Now here's the situation. Again, Israel and their worldly wisdom, they did not want God, they didn't want God's design for their governance. So Israel was supposed to be governed by God in this respect. There was to be no earthly monarch. It was Moses with the Bible and other judges with the Bible, so to speak, or with the scriptures. So the people of God were supposed to be governed by the law of God. And so if anyone had any kind of question or dispute and you wanted to know the will of God, you would go to a local judge or any judge, and so the judge, not a king, a judge would say, okay, they would say, you know, Brother Oscar and Brother Lynn are having a dispute about a particular matter, and the judge would say, here's what the word of God says concerning the matter, and he would decide, and that was God's decision. They didn't want that. They wanted a king like the rest of the nations, and God warned them that that was not a good idea. And so the Lord eventually gives them, gives them a king, and Saul proves disastrous. So when we come to 1 Samuel 16, that's when we start to hear about the battle with the Philistines. Now, do you remember God's promise to Abraham? I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. Now, I didn't have a lot of time to refresh my memory and study, but in 1 Samuel 16, Samuel chapter 15. Samuel the prophet speaks to Saul and God is now going to judge Amalek, the people, the Amalekites, because they really messed with Israel when they were coming out of Egypt. They really attacked Israel and they mistreated Israel. And so again, God, for a long time, I don't wanna say He let it slide, but the time came when the Lord said, okay, it's time for me, as God, to go judge the Amalekites, and I'm going to send Saul to judge the Amalekites, okay? Now remember, this is God's business. So God is going to judge the Amalekites, and God has already decided what He's going to do. Now look at verse one. 1 Samuel 15, and Samuel said to Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." Now, of course, again, this seems real harsh. Don't have time to get into all the particulars. Verse 10, we'll just skip down because of time. The word of the Lord came to Samuel, I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. And Samuel was angry and he cried to the Lord all night. And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning and it was told Samuel, Saul came to Carmel and behold, He set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal. And Samuel came to Saul and Saul said to him, blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandments of the Lord. And Samuel said, what then is the bleeding of sheep in my ears and the lowing of oxen that I hear? Then Samuel said to Saul, stop. I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night. And he said to him, speak. And Samuel said, though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. The Lord sent you on a mission and said, go devote to destruction, the sinners, the Amalekites and fight against them until they are consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord? Now you have to understand that this is partial obedience. So he didn't completely disobey, he merely partially obeyed. And so you see some human wisdom at play here because Well, let's just keep reading in verse 20. And Saul said to Samuel, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction, but the people took of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal. Do you understand what's going on here? Saul, is reasoning that he indeed did obey the Lord, but he didn't. So there seems to be like some human wisdom going on there, like why destroy all the good stuff? Why not let the people have some of the spoil? And you know what, we can give some of it to God. If you've known people like that, they do wrong and they think it's okay, well, you know, I'm gonna give money to the church as if that somehow helps their case. And so, of course, God is not pleased because Verse 22, and Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams. That is a profound statement, is it not? And then he says, for rebellion. Now, you brought up this word, Isaac, or you brought attention to it. God is calling this rebellion. What exactly did Saul do? He partially obeyed. He partially, he did go and fight the Amalekites. He did destroy the Amalekites, but he spared the king, and he kept a lot of the spoil. But God calls it rebellion. For rebellion is, as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. What exactly is presumption? Presumption is exactly how it sounds. It is presuming that God is actually okay with something when he's already made clear that he's not. That's what presumption is. Kids do it all the time with their parents. Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Like you make your will known to your kids, and then they presume to do it, and then they reason that, well, you didn't tell me right now not to do it. Well, what does it expire? Like after a month, if I say, if I said a month ago, don't do this, but like, is that how you're thinking? It expires? And I wonder if that's how we think about God's word. Well, he said that in the Old Testament. And that was a long time, and he's not telling me right now. So presumption is exactly what it sounds like. It is to presume that God is actually okay with something, and you reason about it when God has actually made it very clear that He's not okay with that. And so that is the sin of presumption. The sin of presumption is also Trying to act in accordance with so-called promises of God that he really never made, that's a whole nother message, but I think you guys get the picture. So fast forward to 1 Samuel 16. Now the prophet, the man of God, is grieving over Saul. And I don't know that it's so much Saul as a person, which I think there's some of it there, but I do think that he's grieving because listen, just like any parents, parents grieve over their children. They grieve when their children make decisions that are foolish and are detrimental to their own lives. And their parent is not in a position that they say what they say for no other reason that they want it their own way and that's it. And it's all about them. That's not the reason our hearts break. The reason our hearts break is because we know from experience and God's wisdom that if you continue down this path, you're going to hurt yourself You're going to hurt others, you're going to damage your life and your testimony, and you're going to, the most important thing, dishonor God. And so, in the New Testament, I think it's John, he says, I have no greater joy than to know that my children are walking in the truth. And so, when you love God, and when you seek to honor Him, when people who identify as fellow believers, when they act in ways contrary to God's will, it grieves you, even though it might not directly affect you, and they say, well, it's my life, and it's my business, I don't know what business is it of yours, It hurts me because you have the name of Christian attached to your life, and you live and act in ways that are contrary, and it's this, so it grieves. It's the same feeling as like a parent feels towards their kid. And so I suppose this might be what is happening with, partially, what might be happening with Samuel, he's grieving over the situation, he's grieving over the circumstances, but listen to what the Lord says, The Lord said to Samuel, how long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go, I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have provided for myself a king among his sons. So here's the story, we're fast forwarding. Again, all of this mess, all of it, on the national level and on the personal level has all come about because of what? Disobedience. You examine your personal life, you examine familial relationships, and where there is chaos and strife and all kinds of trouble, the root It's going to be the same every single time there is a deviation or there is an acting contrary to God's will. It's sin, every time. Whether it's one's direct sin or someone else's sin is affecting the family indirectly. So when God calls us to obedience, it's because He loves us. He loves us. And it grieves the heart of God. It might grieve the heart of God, but it's us who suffer. It really is. It's like when God pleads with Israel, why will you die? Why will you die? What do you get out of dying? Why would you perish? And he's pleading with them to listen to him because it's not about, and that's the bad rap that preachers get, pastors get, parents get. Those who are subordinates believe that It's a personality issue. We just like to be right and we just want things our way period and and it isn't that way So these are kind of two separate messages because what David does is pretty amazing I'm just gonna draw attention to I'm not gonna read the whole thing because we're looking at two chapters You guys know the story They're encamped against each other according to 1st Samuel chapter 17 Goliath comes out and challenges Israel and I don't know how tall he is. I think some people guess maybe about nine and a half feet tall. What do you think, Brother Lynn, have you heard about? About that, yeah. Yeah, so I don't know that we have an exact. I know some people put him at like 20 feet. I think that's, you know, I don't think that's, I think according to what we can see from the Bible and measurements, he's probably like nine and a half feet tall. And he comes out and he says in verse 10, and the Philistines said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. Listen, the king of Israel, verse 11, the king of Israel, when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Now, if you've read the book of Joshua, God calls them to be, it starts with a C, we were meant to be, what's that song? Courageous, right? That song really annoys me, it really does. Because we take so many verses from the Bible and we rip them out of context and we apply them in modern settings that is totally detached from the original context. When God calls us to be courageous, what exactly is he talking about? What exactly is he talking about? Anyone wanna take a guess? Let me frame it this way. Have any of you ever been in a position where you know exactly what God requires, because you have it laid out in scripture, but you are fearful in carrying it out because of the negative consequences it might bring about, or those who might oppose you in doing that? Anyone? It is in that specific context that God is saying not to fear and be courageous. In other words, when you come up against these larger nations, if you think like in terms of human wisdom, you're gonna say, okay, number one, this nation is mightier and greater than us. And we are a small nation. And God says, listen, I've already told you ahead of time that you will defeat this nation because the battle was mine and not yours. I will defeat them, but you still have to go out and fight. In other words, they were being told ahead of time that they would prove victorious. They just needed to listen. And so therefore, God, in that context, was telling them, don't be fearful, be courageous. He wasn't saying, hey, when you go out on a Friday night lights in the football game, I know you're afraid, man, to make that first down, but you were meant to be courageous, you can do it. Like sports is like the place where God's word gets all butchered and ripped out of context. And, you know, I can do all things through Christ. I'm not gonna miss every three-pointer I shoot. And it's, you know, it just, it's really annoying because you're robbing people of its true understanding. Philippians, is it 4.13, I think, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And they make all kinds of, Anyways, but the original context, so Saul and Israel are violating God's word. They're acting in a way that God told them not to act. It says he looks at Goliath and Saul and all Israel are dismayed and greatly afraid. So they are in sin because they're doing exactly what God told them not to do, not to be afraid. You have a comment, Leti? No, that's about the Apostle Paul being able to minister as an apostle, whether he's in need or whether he's doing it in abundance. Like he has the strength to serve Christ, whether he's poor or rich. in all circumstances, in all situations. It's about the strength to serve Christ, even in the midst of trouble and persecution. So, now, anyone else have any questions or comments? Anyone? No? All right, let's keep trucking. I'm almost done. Not really, but we'll... Again, I'm skipping over a lot of information. This is a great narrative in the Old Testament. David is not a soldier. He's a shepherd boy. at least in the eyes of all these men of war. A shepherd has a very lonely job. He's out there by himself, and he's watching the animals for the family. Because sheep have predators. Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my. And okay, Isaac was like, don't go there. But lions and bears, that's what he mentions. And he doesn't have a high-powered rifle. Did he show any fear? Yeah, we're about to get there, okay? So what does a shepherd have in his hands? What are his weapons of, I mean, how many of you would go after a bear with a staff or a slingshot? Yeah, it's, you know, I mean, you'd have to be pretty brave. And Jesus describes that the hireling, he runs away when he sees danger because we're talking about predators. And so being a shepherd could be a dangerous job, but listen, there's no closed circuit TV. There are no cameras. David doesn't have social media to publish any of this. He's just simply, you know, because a lot of times people do things for no other reason than social media to pat themselves on the back, but he's out there doing a job. Listen, when David, he recognizes, look at verse, Verse 26, 1 Samuel chapter 17, and David said to the men who stood by him, what shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? So when David sees the situation, he sees what's really happening. You have the army of God, you have the army of Yahweh being challenged by an army that God said he would destroy. So in a sense, David comes up a bunch of unbelievers, and the text doesn't say this, but the sense is like he's scratching his head, like why are we in fear of a people whom God said he would deliver us from and even destroy? So David doesn't have any self-confidence, you understand? He does not have any self-confidence He doesn't think, well, I can do this. He understands that this is the battle, this pertains to God. So he goes to Saul and look at verse 31. When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, you are not able to go against this Philistine, to go fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth. You see the contrast here? David is trying to encourage the people, and he's trying, that's the word encourage, let no man's heart fail. Encourage comes from the word to give his fellow soldiers courage. Okay, but what does Saul do? He shoots him down. That's what Saul had done to the rest of the army. He shot them down, okay? But Saul should have been calling people, look, God said that we could do this. God said that he would do this, but he's doing the complete opposite. And so as the leader goes, so goes everyone else. David at this point doesn't have any leaders, but he does know the Lord. And listen to David draws upon experience and listen, Here is how David responds to Saul's pretty much saying that David can't do this. But David said to Saul, your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by the beard You get the picture here? It sounds like a fair, yeah, really, okay. Caught him by the beard and struck him and killed him. So David is saying that he killed the lion with his bare hands. He's saying he killed the lion. Your servant has struck down both lions, plural, and bears, plural, And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God." I don't know, Chris, it sounds like that might be room for self-confidence because David has confidence in his past experiences. Now, let me ask you this. Do you think that God anticipated that this time would come for David? It would come. God knew that there would be a time that they would be in a situation and he would need a man to kill this giant. So what does God do? God prepared him in privates. See, our victories are going to be accomplished in private first before we ever accomplish them publicly. If you haven't done anything privately, if you've not proved faithfully privately, you're not gonna do it publicly. You know, I've heard people say, well, Chris, why don't you ask so-and-so to do this in the church and that? I'm like, there's no reason believed that this person has any self-discipline or any accomplishments privately under his own household. Some people think that if you give somebody an opportunity publicly, then no, you have to have some kind of proven track record on the personal level. And so at least that's my opinion. Here's what's going on here. David is saying that he killed the bear. And David is saying that he killed the lion and he grabbed him by the, he did it with his bare hands. But you see, David has discernment, and here's what he understands. Look at verse 37. And David said, the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. You see, even though David was the one who actually killed the lion and the bear, he understood that there was no way that mere human strength had caused them to do this. He understood that the spirit of the Lord had been upon him in such a way that he was able to accomplish this. And so he reasoned from that, and in the same way, this Philistine, who is God's enemy and is defying the armies of the living God and bringing reproach, I'm confident that God will Prove me victorious over even him. So now let's fast forward to, so this isn't about self-confidence. This isn't about believing in yourself. This is about carrying out God's will as he had revealed it, okay? So David confronts Goliath, look at verse 46. They're going back and forth and then in verse 46, this day, this is David speaking to Goliath. This day, the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and cut off your head and I will give you, I know it's rated R today, the message for violence. This day, the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and cut off your head and I will give you the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beast of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Okay, listen, verse 47, here's another reason why David is doing this. And that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear, for the battle is, who? Whose battle is it? And he will give you into our hand. There needed to be a change of the tide. There needed to be faith instilled in the people. And David understood that this was all about God. The people are faithless. The people are unbelieving and it's because of their leader, King Saul. He has brought the nation. And so there needed to be a turning here. And so we learn several things from this. One of the things is I just mentioned about being faithful in the small matters. David was faithful as a shepherd. And the other thing too is God has so designed it that your lifestyle or your actions have a way of instilling and engendering faith in others, or it can have the opposite effect. It can melt the hearts of others and discourage them. And so what we do is very important. We need to be very careful about that. And really no one is immune. And so that's why we need to watch ourselves closely because our actions or lack of actions can discourage other people, or they can have the positive effect of encouraging other people. So it's not about self-confidence. David's not about, he's not about, you know, I can do it, Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through. This is David recognizing that, hey, this is all about, this is God's battle. And here's Israel doing nothing when they were told to do something. How do we apply this? You know, it's not easy, but we know what God requires of us. We know what God wants us to do, but sometimes we allow negative circumstances to discourage us. The way I try to clear it in my mind is, you know what? It just seems like I'm spinning my wheels here. It just seems like I'm not really going anywhere, but I'm gonna do this because I know this is the right thing to do, regardless of how I feel about it. And so that'll keep you persevering, and every now and then, God will show you fruit, and some tangible results, but you always need to stick with doing what you know to do. And stop reading the circumstances, because that's very subjective. Amen? Any questions? So does that answer your question, Sylvia? Yes, he was not fearful. Huh? He was not, he didn't have... Yeah, he was not fearful because... He had confidence in God, not necessarily in himself. You know what I mean? Yes, yeah. Yeah, this is pretty much the, yeah, he had been anointed, yeah, before this, but we skipped over all that part, because you guys only paid for half the movie. But, okay, anyone else? Brother Lynn, everything? Anyone else, comments? I know we went through, it was a quick overview. All right, I guess let's stand and we'll close in prayer.