Praise the Lord, amen. Happy New Year, church. I want to read 1 Samuel 18, one through nine for our scripture reading. This is God's word. As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. When Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house, then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David and his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt. And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul sent him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. And they were coming home, as they were coming home when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated. Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very angry. And this saying was displeasing him. He said, they have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they've ascribed thousands. And what more can he have but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day on. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for a new year and just the songs we've been singing to you as we worship you, thinking about your great love and how you envelop us in it. and protect us and keep us secure. Lord, what a delightful thought as we begin this new year to meditate on and think about your incredible love that you have given to us and shown to us in manifold ways, but most notably through your own son, the Lord Jesus. Help us in this new year to worship him more, love him more, obey him more. And now, Lord, as we turn to your word, may you use it to instruct us and correct us and rebuke us and help us and teach us. We pray now in Jesus' name, amen. You can be seated. Chapters 18 and 19 of First Samuel, a little bit like a Netflix documentary of a crime family, has all the makings of a really, really good story. Friendship, jealousy, attempted murder. One of the blessings of narrative is not only the fact that the stories are naturally interesting, there's almost like an entertainment factor to it, but they're also super applicable, and these narratives have just easy application. The importance of friendship, the dangers of jealousy, the trial of living in the tension of people who just don't like you, or in the case of David, are trying to kill you. And barring the murder part, these are, for most of us, applicable themes that the Bible has a lot to say on, and I don't wanna miss the main exegetical theme, and one of those themes is that David's rise to prominence will not be without peril. God is intentionally, sovereignly training David. We left off back in December with David and Goliath. God promised a Messiah for Israel, and one of the first things that this Messiah does is kill the blaspheming giant. He stones him. Right after David kills the giant Abner, Saul's top general comes and inquires of David, and David ends up moving in to Saul's household, his family, which sounds kind of like a fairy tale, right? Or is it a nightmare? The road to the throne will be a bumpy road for David. So let's look at this first part, David's friendship with Jonathan, verse one. As soon as he finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Jonathan loved him as his own. Verse three, Jonathan made a covenant with David. He stripped himself of the robe that was on him, gave it to David, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. Jonathan, as you know, is David's son. And in some respects, he would be the natural next in line to the throne. He's already got the wardrobe. But Jonathan not only likes David as a friend and a brother, he also has the perception, and that word is key in 1 Samuel, to see that David is actually the future. David is the next in line. And in an incredible act of faith and solidarity, he gives David his royal garb and makes a covenant with David and sort of ratifies it by giving him his robe, armor, sword, bow, and belt. This is not unlike Joseph. If you remember that Old Testament story, Joseph is given a coat of many colors, and it was a symbol of his position among the brothers, even though they couldn't really appreciate it at the time. they despised it. Also Moses' brother Aaron, when Aaron dies he gives his priestly garb to his son Eleazar. Jonathan is relinquishing here his position and he's in a sense crowning his friend David. I doubt, we don't know, but I doubt if he even knows about the private anointing that happened on Jesse's farm among the other brothers when Samuel anoints David, but Jonathan is casting his lot with David. David's victory and success will be his victory and success. It'll be Israel's victory and success. Not unlike Jesus and the gospel, his victory is our victory. We ride on his coattails. We declare our loyalty to him. But I also wanna highlight the incredible male friendship between David and Jonathan. The author says Jonathan loved him as his own soul. I love this. This is awesome and it's lamentable. that progressive scholars have tried to twist this into some kind of a homosexual relationship. It wasn't. The word means was loyal to, meant devotion and allegiance. When Jonathan dies, David says that his love surpassed that of women. There is such a thing as same-sex friendship, and it's a gift from God. And it's not the main point of this story, but it's at least a part of the story. I want to just apply this for a minute. New York Times had an article maybe 10, 12 years ago, the author reflecting on various social media sites and in particular Facebook. And soon after starting a Facebook account, he had accumulated about 700 online friends. In his own words, he was, quote, absurdly proud of how many cyber pals, connections, acquaintances, even strangers I'd managed to sign up. But he went on to point out that due to a two-year-old at home, his workaholic irritability, and even his love of being left alone, he had fewer in-the-flesh friends to hang out with than he'd ever had before. So he decided to have a Facebook party to push his virtual friends into actual friends. So he invited all 700 of his friends to a local bar for a party. People could respond to one of three options. I don't know if Facebook still has this, but attending, maybe attending, not attending. 15 said they would be there. 60 said they might be there. He guessed maybe around 20 might show up. He writes about what happened next. He says, in the evening in question, I took a shower, shaved, splashed on my Tingly Man perfume. I put on new pants, my favorite shirt. Brimming with optimism, I headed over to the neighborhood watering hole and waited and waited. and waited. Eventually, one person showed up, and the woman who showed up, he didn't know. She was a friend of a friend. They ended up making small talk, and then she laughed. He waited till midnight. No one came. So he ordered a beer and sulked, and he concludes his article with these words, 700 friends, and I was drinking alone. I wanna say that same-sex friendships are a gift from God. I think of Genesis 2.18, the Lord says, it's not good that the man should be alone, I'll make a helper fit for him. It's not good for a man to be alone. Now, he wasn't only talking about marriage. It's broader than that. We are made for relationship, made for community. Samuel Johnson said, friendship is the wine of life. The book of Proverbs has so much to say about the blessing of friendship and warnings. How to be a good friend, how to find a good friend, how to cultivate it. Let me just read a couple of those Proverbs. Warning Proverbs, like Proverbs 22, a good friend is godly. Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. Proverbs 13 20, whoever walks with the wise becomes wise. that the companion of fools will suffer harm. You become like who you spend time with. When I was a college student, I was attending here, and the elders gave out a little book by J.C. Ryle called Thoughts for Young Men. We still have that book. You're welcome to have one if you've not read it. It's a very, very good little book. But he said of picking friends, do they help your soul or hurt your soul? And Ryle said, never make an intimate friend of anyone who's not a friend of God. Spend time with, develop relationships with people who encourage your soul, who challenge you, and desire godly things. Chances are you'll start taking on their characteristics. What a blessing it is to be challenged by godly friends to be a better dad. To be a better husband, to be a better pastor, to be a better hunter or tennis player. This doesn't mean you don't have acquaintances with non-Christians, but a good friend is godly, God word. A good friend is also helpful. Proverbs 17, 17. A friend loves at all times and a brother's born for adversity. We all face adversity. Friends are a blessing in those times. Proverbs 27, 10. Don't forsake your friend and your father's friend. Do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who's near than a brother who's far away. It's a wonderful thing to have people in your life who will support you and help you. This is the blessing of the nucleus of the local church. This is a lot of times where it happens. Good friend is loyal. Proverbs 18, 24, a man of many companions may come to ruin, but there's a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 20, verse six, many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find. This was Jonathan for David. You've probably heard the story of two friends hunting in the northern US. One of them yelled and the other looked up to see a grizzly bear charging at them full speed. The first man started to frantically put on his tennis shoes and the other friend asked him anxiously, what are you doing? Don't you realize you can't outrun a grizzly bear? And he said, I don't need to outrun a grizzly, I've just got to outrun you. Good friend is loyal. Good friend offers honest feedback and welcomes honest feedback. Proverbs 27 6, faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses of an enemy. Proverbs 27.9, oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Even the Psalms touch on this. Let a righteous man strike me, it is kindness. Let him rebuke me, it is oil for my head. Let my head not refuse it. You are living in la-la land if you never get rebuked. And there's a real danger to isolation. This is a phenomenon in our culture today that is, I think, unprecedented. We need friends. We need relationships. We need accountability. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. The Lord has done that to you. Look at verse 5. We move on with the story. David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him. So that Saul sent him over the men of war and this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servant. The story now switches back and forth between David's success and David's opposition. It's interesting that everyone in the story loves David except Saul. So let's turn our attention to him and his jealousy in verse six. As they were coming in, or coming home when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out singing and dancing, tambourines, songs of joy, musical instruments. Saul struck down his thousands, and David his 10,000. And Saul was angry, and it displeased him. They described to David 10,000, and me only 1,000. And he eyed David from that day on. Just a side note on the spiritual pulse of the nation that there are no songs about God and his salvation. Compare this with Miriam after they go through the Red Sea and she and the ladies sing a song, sing to the Lord. He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he's thrown into the sea. But this song is just about Saul and David. Harmless enough, but Saul does not care for the lyrics. And he becomes angry and jealous. Now, I want you to think about this with me. What should have Saul done? He should have rejoiced that God had saved Israel, saved his own tail. He should have been on the battlefield. He should have been overwhelmed with praise at God's mercy and goodness to him and the whole nation. The Lord had worked a great salvation. He did a great work. He also should have been thankful that there was a song about him. How many people have songs written about him? But he was not thankful, he was jealous. When I was in high school, the LeBron James of the day, was David Robinson. He was a beast. He was the veteran center for the San Antonio Spurs. And in the 98-99 NBA season, Robinson learned to share the limelight with his new dominant player of the league, his teammate, Tim Duncan. San Antonio went on to the NBA playoffs with Duncan as their star player. And Sports Illustrated, Robinson, who's a believer, reflects on what this was like for him. He says, I can't overstate how important my faith has been to me as an athlete and as a person. It's helped me deal with so many things, including matters of ego and pride. For instance, I can't deny that it felt weird to see Tim standing on the podium with the finals MVP trophy. I was thinking, man, never have I come to an end of a tournament and not been the one holding up that trophy. It was hard. But I thought of the Bible story of David and Goliath. David helped King Saul win a battle, but the king wasn't happy because he had killed thousands of men while David had killed tens of thousands. So King Saul couldn't enjoy the victory because he was thinking about David's getting more credit than he was. And he says this, I'm blessed that God has given me the ability to just enjoy the victory. So Tim killed tens of thousands, that's great. I'm happy for him. Let me ask you, have you ever been jealous of someone? Have you ever envied someone or has anyone been jealous of you and you've known about it? Here's why jealousy is bad. Jealousy is an assault on God's governance. It's actually a hatred and an anger towards God. Our jealousy says that we lack and God hasn't been good or wise or sufficient in his governance. The 10th commandment, covetousness, is a form of this. When we're jealous of someone else's house or car or life or wife or husband, we're indirectly saying God hasn't been good to us or he could have been better. We're saying, in a sense, he's been aloof in his lordship. If he was really on his game, he would have given me that. It's the opposite of contentment. Jealousy is also indirectly damaging to the person you're jealous of. It withholds love. It's a passive aggressive behavior. It's a gateway sin too. It leads to gossip and other things. Saul's not only jealous of the favor of the people, he's also jealous of God's favor to David. There's a story of two shopkeepers. who were bitter rivals. And their stores were directly across the street from each other. They'd spend each day keeping track of each other's business. If one got a customer, he would smile and triumph at his rival. One night, an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, I'll give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your competitor will receive twice as much. Would you be rich? You can be very rich, but he will be twice as wealthy. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and healthier. What is your desire? The man frowned and thought for a moment and said, here is my request. Strike me blind in one eye. That's kind of what Saul's doing. He's willing to forfeit his own life, his family, the nation in the name of jealousy. Matthew Henry wrote, it is a sign that the Spirit of God is departed from men. if they are peevish in their resentment of affronts, envious and suspicious of all about them, and ill-natured in their conduct. For the wisdom from above makes us quite otherwise. J.B. Phillips said, many people live in a similar way, nurturing evil, jealous, or resentful thoughts, and bearing an attitude that is as sharp and almost as dangerous as Saul's spear. Jealousy is destructive. It's demonic, as we'll actually hear later on. The story gets more bizarre in verse 10. The next day, a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul. He raved within his house while David was playing the liar. And he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. But David evaded him twice. Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. So Saul removed him from his presence, made him a commander of a thousand, and he went out and came in before the people. David had success in all his undertakings, the Lord was with him. And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in. before them. Now, chapter 18, we're looking at both chapter 18 and 19 this morning, but chapter 18 ends with David marrying Saul's daughter, Michael, but that's not how it starts. And if you were to just peruse this story, Saul first offers David Merib, his daughter Merib. If you remember when they're on the battlefield, he says, whoever can take down the giant can have my daughter. Well, David's flattered and honored, but when the time comes for marriage, Merib's given to someone else, David gets shafted, and Saul's other daughter, Michael, is in love with David. So Saul devises a plan, schemes a plan. He wants David dead, so he gives David an impossible task of killing the Philistines. He thought, I don't need to kill them, let someone else do it. And so he says, Thus shall you say to David, the king desires no bride price except 104 skins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines." So David rallies to the challenge, takes his posse, and they go out and kill not 100, but 200. and bring back the four skins. What a sight that was. Verse 27, Saul gave him his daughter Michael for a wife, but when Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michael, Saul's daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David's enemy continually. The chapter ends with a kind of prologue to a forthcoming soap opera drama with David being highly esteemed by the nation and even Saul's own family, all to the chagrin of Saul. His plan backfires. You could say what Saul meant for evil, God means for good. And now Saul is jealous and angry and the next chapter ends with Saul running around naked. Seriously. But not before he tries to kill David in creative ways. It went from jealousy over a song to I'm gonna kill him, to I'm gonna use my family to kill him, to I'm gonna use the Philistines to kill him, I'm gonna use my own army to kill him, I'm gonna use my spear to kill him. I mean, he just, he's losing it in every possible way here. He's a man under judgment. Notice this. Saul is a man under judgment. Look at this last section in chapter 19, attempted murder. Verse one, Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and all his servants that they should kill David. Five times in chapter 19, reference is made to Saul's intending to kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David, and Jonathan told David, Saul, my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning, stay in a secret place, hide yourself, and I'll go out and stand beside my father in the field. I'll speak to my father about you. If I learn anything, I'll let you know. So Jonathan intercedes for David. He tries to speak some sense into Saul. Tries to reason with him. Dad, David is the reason Israel's winning. God is using him. You should be thankful, Father, for David. He is a gift to you. Verse six, Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and he swore, as the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death. Jonathan called David and Jonathan reported to him all these things. Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was in his presence as before. So it's, you know, seems like he's come to his senses for now. I mean, he realizes David, okay, you're right. David has been a blessing to him and the nation. What a gift. All is well in the kingdom, but not for long. In verse nine, a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, David is playing the liar. Saul sought to pin David to the wall with a spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night. Imagine, put yourself in David's shoes. Imagine you're David. What, like what in the world? Talk about a horrible father-in-law. He's literally trying to murder David. And it's at this point David's new wife, Michael, gets involved. Verse 11, she catches wind of the plot to kill David. She pulls a Ferris Bueller and stages David in bed, makes it look like he's sleeping, and puts an idol in the bed. And one might ask, why does she have an idol? Good question, I don't know. She puts a pillow of goat's hair, maybe it's a clue, honestly, into her spiritual life. She puts a pillow of goat's hair, the idol in his bed, the whole deal, and says to Saul that he's sick in bed. Well, Saul flips out when he learns the truth. He feels deceived by his whole family. And now the cat and mouse game is on again. David's on the run. Saul's enraged at David for no apparent reason. And where does David run? He runs to Samuel, the prophet at Ramah and tells him the whole story. I'll summarize it just for sake of time and the last part is just, it's a little strange. But Saul finds out David's in Ramah with Samuel and he sends messengers to bring him back and purportedly kill him. And when the messengers see the prophets, the spirit of God comes upon them and they prophesy, okay? Well, this is told Saul, so he sends another delegate. Same thing happens. This happens three times. Saul finally says, fine, I'll go myself. He travels to Ramah. When he gets there, he says, hey, where's Samuel? Where's David? Look at verse 23. Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went, he prophesied until he came to Nioph and Ramah, and he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied. Excuse me. prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, is Saul also among the prophets." Now, what is happening here? Well, short answer is God is delivering David. That's what's happening. But beyond that, what is this naked frenzy? A couple of thoughts. There's some background to this. But first, the word prophesying can be used of a prophet giving a word from God. That's how we normally think of the word, use the word, you know, a priest speaks to God on behalf of men, a prophet speaks to man on behalf of God. But the word can also describe a frenzy. In fact, look back in the previous chapter, verse 10, the next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the liar, and he did day by day. The word means to come under the influence of something. In this case, the influence of a spirit, or the spirit. I really found British scholar Tim Chester helpful here. In his own words, I'll quote him here. He says, Saul is becoming a parody of his former self. Saul, the asked-for king of chapters 13 through 19, is a parody of the spirit-empowered judge of chapters 9 through 11. And in chapter 19, Saul repeats his rise to kingship in parody form. I think this is a brilliant observation. Back in chapters 9 through 11, his rise to kingship went like this. Comes to Ramah. He comes to a well and asks for directions to find Samuel. He prophesies with a group of prophets. People say, hey, is Saul also among the prophets? The Spirit comes on Saul and invests him with authority. Well, it's the same exact sequence repeated in chapter 19, only in tragicomic form. Saul comes to Ramah, he comes to a well, asks for directions to find Samuel, he prophesies with a group of prophets. People joke, is Saul also among the prophets? And the spirit comes on Saul and divests him of his clothes. Instead of being empowered by the Spirit to prophesy, Saul, you could say, is disempowered and neutered. He's neutralized. And he no longer kills David. David escapes all because God's protected him. All that to say God saves David yet again. And the whole episode of Saul and the Prophets was an elaborate plan to actually preserve David. And that saving will be repeated over and over on the road, David's road to the throne. Now I wanna pan back and just consider some lessons for us as a church from these two chapters. I know that was a lot to get through. It's like drinking from a fire hydrant when you're going through some of these chapters, trying to get through them. But a couple lessons for us. First from Saul, then from David. Lessons from Saul. Jealousy is a real problem. and it's deadly. It's a poison for human relationships. In some ways, jealousy is peak selfishness. It wants the betterment of self at the cost of others, and it fosters a kind of bitterness, paranoia, rivalry, evil speech, competitiveness, hatred, and it's the flesh. Paul calls jealousy a work of the flesh. He says love is not jealous. James, actually, the brother of our Lord, calls it demonic. The Proverbs say, wrath is fierce, anger is a flood, but who can stand before jealousy? Unrepentant jealousy is like a relational tornado. Just destroys communities, relationships, families. George Mueller, while he was co-pastoring a church, discovered that most people enjoyed his friends preaching over his own. And he wrote this, he says, when in the year of 1832, I saw how some preferred my beloved friend's ministry to my own, I determined in the strength of God to rejoice in this instead of envying him. I said with John the Baptist, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. This resisting the devil hindered separation of heart. Jealousy can happen in ministry. The solution is the promotion of others, sharing in the victory of others' success. Second of all, second lesson from Saul is Saul's real problem wasn't David, It was his own heart. He is kicking against God here. And even though the kingdom was taken away from him, he still could have repented and been restored, but he didn't. And he fought God the rest of his life. Let me say to you, church, don't fight God the rest of your life. He didn't accept God's will for his life. He cared more about his pride than about the nation of Israel. When people depart from God, you could say that's when their troubles really begin. And that doesn't mean being a Christian protects you from peril and problems, as we'll see in David's life, that's not the case. But if you wanna amplify trouble in your life, it's when you depart from God. Third lesson from Saul, he illustrates, I think, a great beginning and a bad ending. He illustrates what it means to backslide. And I wanna say to you, church, in all sincerity, don't think you're immune to this. Don't think you can't be disqualified. Don't think you can't shipwreck. As the writer of Hebrews says, take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. It's worth asking the question, am I like Saul in a spiritual lull? The new year is a great time to ask this question. We should ask it all the time, but the new year in particular. Am I immune to God and his will? Are there things I need to repent of? You probably know what they are. It's hard to repent of things you don't know of. Are there things you know of that you can confess, change, amend, make lifestyle changes with? Have I confessed my selfishness or unbelief or anger at God's governance? Are you frustrated with His sovereignty? Some lessons from David. First of all, David has entered a new season of trial and tribulation. And it's not as though this is some fault of his own doing. It's God's goodness, as we'll see, actually. But he's learning what it means to be dependent on God. He's learning dependence. We haven't really mentioned it, or maybe mentioned it briefly, but it's during this time that he writes Psalm 59. while running away from Saul at this first stage of running away from Saul. Eventually his wife will turn against him. And God seems to be taking all the crutches out of David's life. And he's learning his only source of true comfort is the Lord. Let me just read a part of Psalm 59. So think about David in this scenario. He says, I will sing of your strength, I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning, for you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love." It's very possible that God may bring affliction into your life in 2025 if he hasn't already. It's very possible God may remove crutches in your life. Maybe it's money, maybe it's friends, maybe it's spouse, maybe it's health or leaders, which can all become substitutes for the Lord. God is interested in David's dependence, and one of the kindest things God can do for you and me is get us to depend upon him. Second of all, David's suffering was purposeful. William Blakey said it pleased God in infinite love to make David pass through a long period of hard discipline and salutary training for the office to which he was to be raised. Joseph is in prison, Moses is in the wilderness, Daniel in the lion's den. God is working and implanting character and attributes into David. Things like trust in God, prayerfulness, humility, dependency, self-control, shepherding skills, tenderness. This was the beginning of David's wilderness wanderings. Life is about to get really hard and uncomfortable for David. Nobody likes that. Nobody signs up for that. Nobody chooses that. But David's suffering is purposeful and so is yours. And it's like a principle of death and resurrection. God brings you low so he can bring you high. The kernel needs to die before it lives. David is in his dying humiliation stage. You may be in a stage of humiliation right now. Dr. Helen Rosevere was an English missionary to the Congo. 1953 to 1973, she practiced medicine, taught the nationals how to do medical work. She remained in the Congo even as the political situation was becoming very threatening in the 1960s. Taken prisoner by hostile forces, she remained in their custody for a number of months during which she was subject to cruel beatings and raped repeatedly. After being released from prison, she returned to England for a short time, but then back to the Congo she went to found a medical school and hospital facility. Her legacy of aiding the peoples of many different countries who needed not only basic provisions, but also medical care has been recorded in her books and articles. And her multiple hardships on the mission field, including one account, she tells, by her treatment by the rebels. She says, beaten, flung in the ground, kicked, teeth broken, mouth and nose gashed, ribs bruised, driven at gunpoint back to my home, jeered at, insulted, threatened. I knew that if the rebel lieutenant did not pull the trigger of his revolver and end the situation, worse pain and humiliation lay ahead. It was a very dark night. I felt unutterably alone. For a brief moment, I thought God had failed me, and in desperation, I almost cried out against him, it's too much to pay. In the darkness and loneliness, he met with me. He was right there, a great, wonderful, almighty God. His love enveloped me. Suddenly, the why dropped away from me. And an unbelievable peace flowed in, even in the midst of the wickedness, and he breathed the word into my troubled mind, the word privilege. These are not your sufferings. They are not beating you. These are my sufferings. The third and final lesson from David is there is a price to leadership. There's a hazard that comes with leadership. It's hazardous. It's perilous. David's troubles, in a sense, began after he gets anointed. When the Spirit came, the trouble began. Same thing happened to Jesus. After he was anointed, what happened? Well, he was led by the Spirit to the wilderness, the place of peril. A place of hazards and wild beasts and temptation. So know this, Littleton Bible Chapel, discipline is the mark of sonship. David isn't under God's displeasure. David is under God's gracious training and discipline. He disciplines those he loves. And the best Psalms are written in the wilderness. And that's where David will remain under the sovereign and gracious plan of God. Let's pray. Father, help us to have a similar attitude to David. Help us to learn from the emotional life of David as he pours out his heart to you, trusting you, singing to you. Lord, help us to Humble ourselves before you and trust you in your governance and sovereignty and your plan and your timing. Lord give us the faith to even delight and give thanks in the midst of our suffering knowing you are actively working 10 billion things for good in the midst of it. Lord, for anyone here who's not trusted you as Lord and Savior, would you grant them now faith and repentance, in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to this sermon from Littleton Bible Chapel. At LBC, we are passionate followers of Jesus, proclaiming Christ and his word. For more information about LBC, please go to littletonbiblechapel.org.