11 tonight Hebrews chapter 11 verse 32 And what shall I more say, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Beric, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness remained strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Tonight I'd like you to turn over to, from there, 2 Samuel chapter 23. 2 Samuel chapter 23. We're going to look tonight at a man by the name of Eleazar, or Eleazar, however you wish to pronounce it. We're going to look at a man in the Scriptures who waxed valiant in fight. Last week we noted that we are in a fight, and it's a spiritual fight, and our enemy is the world, the flesh, and the devil. That's our enemy. And tonight, and again, as you read in the Scriptures, and remember what Paul wrote on two different occasions, one to the saints of God at Rome and one to the church of God at Corinth, that these things were written for our admonition. and they're written for our example upon whom the ends of the world have come. And while Israel fought against physical enemies, those physical enemies were types of the spiritual enemies of which we face today. So we'll begin our reading in 2 Samuel chapter 23 in verse 1. Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob. And the sweet psalmist of Israel said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, The rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. and he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds, as a tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands. But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place. Verse 8. These be the names of the mighty men whom David had. The Taqmanite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains. The same was Adino, the Esnite. He lift up his spear against 800 whom he slew at one time. And after him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the whole height. one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away. He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword. And the Lord wrought a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to spoil." Now again, we're looking at Eleazar as an example for us that through faith he waxed valiant in the fight. And I'd like you to notice here that in this section in verse 8, down through the end of this chapter in verse 39, there's a very long list. And these are the mighty men of David, or these be the names of the mighty men whom David had. These were tremendous individuals who were faithful and they remained faithful. These were those who did not strike out on their own path after they were successful under David and seek to establish their own kingdom, but remained faithful unto their king and the anointed of the Lord. And you'll never go wrong following the Lord's anointing. You never will. In fact, Paul even said concerning himself, and this is true of every man of God, Be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now we want to look again. And you can read here all of these names. And here we find that David's mighty men, that there is much entailed here concerning them. We find as we read these words, and we'll note verse 9 and 10 again momentarily, but we notice that their lives were at risk. And here they were in a fight. And we need to understand that life is at risk in a spiritual battle as well. It's a warfare. And yet God honored these men in a great way by recording them, some with details and some without. And yet even those that were not recorded, they were still honored. You'll notice here, and it's true in our day, and I've heard of different movies coming out about individuals who, there's one about an individual who refused to take up arms in a war, and it was based on a true story, and he was ridiculed during basic training because he refused to take up an arm. And people thought that he was a coward. They called him such in basic training and such. And now, here we are, it's over 60 years after World War II, over 70 years, and now there's a major motion picture, and he's being heralded as a hero. There are heroes and there are cowards in battle. And there are heroes and there are cowards in the service of the Lord. And we find here that Eleazar is one who stands out as a hero in the service of the Lord God. You'll find here that God calls us to go forth and swing the sword, even as Eleazar did. And that sword is none other for you and I the Word of God, as it is referred to often throughout the Scriptures. So let's note here some things. Let's notice, first of all, tonight, that there was one individual, or what one individual did for his king and for his country. And again, remember, we have a heavenly country, don't we? This is the country that we are serving as a king of kings, and a spiritual kingdom, and a heavenly country. And the Bible says in verse 9-10, And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Hoahite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle. And the men of Israel were gone away. He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword. And the Lord wrought a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to spoil." Now you'll notice here that this is what one individual did, isn't it? One individual did this. The Bible says at the very end of verse 9, and the men of Israel were gone away. And then the beginning of verse 10, it says, he arose. So it was a single individual who did this for his king and for his country. The Philistines gave Israel great difficulty, and the men of Israel had turned their backs in the day of battle. But Eliezer continued on in the warfare and in the fight. Eliezer made up single-handedly for the failures of those who fled in the day of battle. Now, you can see here that to the left hand and to the right hand, we find again in verse 9, he could have looked all around him, and there was no one to serve the Lord with him was there. And yet, he arose, didn't he? And he followed and did as God had instructed. You know who he acted like? He acted like his king, David, didn't he? You remember when David was sent by his father on down to the field to see how his older brothers were doing. And he got there and there was the champion of Gath, Goliath, and how David had said, why don't you go and fight him, so to speak. And he went out single-handedly and he defeated when all the others cowered and turned in the day of battle. You see, Eleazar emulated his king, and in doing so, he also emulated King Jesus, who alone arose and served God when others, all others, fled. No, this is a tremendous example here of Eleazar. We find here that Eleazar showed his character. We've been noting the character of Job. Well, Eleazar had some character as well. He knew his God. He knew what the will of his king was. And the will of King David was not to retreat in the day of battle. We find here that Eleazar knew his God and he knew his king to some extent. He knew himself and he did not run. He did not follow a multitude to do evil, did he? but he followed the Lord and the Word of God. Others fled, he stayed and fought the Philistines. When one takes his stand with the Lord, others may flee. And this is something that we need to learn and understand as the Word of God tells us here. While Eleazar stood and was steadfast in the Word and in the work of God, others fled. So often times, many people will flee because others will not join in with them. But this was not the case with Eleazar, was it? He stayed the course. He fought the fight. He finished the race, didn't he? And there he was at this time. We have to realize that not all will stand on the side of the Lord, will they? When Moses stood and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. Not everyone came, did they? But some did. And so in Eleazar's case, none came. None came. He alone fought. We find as well, another thing concerning Eleazar's character, is that he showed that he had a personal obligation to the Lord. He had a personal obligation to the Lord. The Scriptures tell us that in verse 10, when he arose and smoked the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword, notice that, he arose. He smoked the Philistines. His hand was weary. His hand clave unto the sword. He had a personal obligation unto his God. And so too does every single one who's been born again. Our obligation is unto our God and unto our Savior. The believer, those who are saved by grace, have a responsibility after God has saved them to do certain acts and certain works as the Scriptures have laid them out. No one can do those works for you. No one can be baptized for you. No one can be a church member for you. No one can do what God has called you to do. And Eliezer understood he had that personal responsibility. No one carried out what God had for him to do. You know, the concept today is, well, if I don't do it, somebody else will. Eliezer did not think that. He had the mind of Isaiah who said, here am I, send me. And certainly, we find that this is so. We find that there are certain acts that one must do. Every child of God who is saved by God's grace, they must pray. No one can do your praying. And no one will do your praying. Every child of God must search the Scriptures. No one will do that for you. Every child of God must fellowship with God through prayer and the searching of the Scriptures. No one can fellowship with God for you. Can't be done. Every child of God must obey the words of Christ. You see, Eliezer and your and my profession is a very serious matter to us. And it's not one that we take lightly. To profess that Jesus Christ is our Savior, we are professing that He died for us and now it is for me to live for Him who died for me. That's our profession. It's a very serious thing. And unfortunately, as you can see in Eleazar's case, not everyone took it very seriously. The Scriptures bear out that Eleazar was filled with zeal, wasn't he? And it was not a zeal of youthful enthusiasm. It was not a zeal of seeking to get his own honor and glory. But it was a zeal for his God and for his king. Each individual that serves God and whom God has saved has been given talents and they are called upon to use those talents. and they are to be used for His service. I'm not talking about the ability to do this and that and the other. I'm talking about your whole substance that God has given unto you. Your being, your existence, and all that God has placed under your care and under my care is to be used and He calls for it to be used in His service. Each individual who is saved will one day also be called to give an account of their God-given responsibility. We cannot separate ourselves from what God has called us to do. We cannot separate ourselves, nor do we want to. We find in these verses that Eleazar had to battle the Philistines regardless of what others might or might not do. See, the Bible tells us, and this again is His character, and this reminds us of some of the words of others in the Scriptures. And it's as if to say that He was like Christ who set His face as a flint toward Jerusalem. He was resolved, He was determined to do what God had set before Him. Though others turned and fled, he had to go fight the Philistines. He couldn't turn away from it. He turned his whole face toward the enemy rather than turning away. As one writer put it, he hewed and hacked away at the enemies of the Lord with all his might. And his example was a rebuke to those of whom the Scriptures say were gone away. And men who follow the Lord will always rebuke those who do not. And they will shame them. The Scriptures bear out not only this, but Eleazar, his work was his responsibility. The work of defeating the Philistines had been given to him, and he did not regret that work. And the work that God gave unto Jesus Christ, he did not regret that work. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, and we'll just turn over there briefly, and we'll read it, that the Bible says that for the joy that was set before him, he did not despise Calvary's tree. But rather, he counted it a joy, didn't he? Hebrews chapter 12, and notice if you would, verse 2. looking unto Jesus. I'm sorry, verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Verse 2. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." You see, Christ, He didn't despise as far as Calvary. He didn't despise the work of redeeming and burying His people again. He didn't despise that. He despised the shame that there was, but not the work. And we ought not to despise the work that God has given us. Folks do despise the work. That's why they go away from the work. That's why they don't have a part in the work. Because they despise it. But Eliezer did not. He did not regret it. He did not sorrow over the work. There was no from Eliezer, woe is me, I'm all alone. But he continued to do what God had given him to do. And he used his substance, whether it's little or much, for the master's use. What a tremendous example we have here. Eliezer used what he had in his hand. And it was sufficient for the work, wasn't it? God did this through Eleazar simply with what he had in his hand. Another point concerning Eleazar is that his work was not diminished by the wrong conduct of other men of Israel. Again, read with us there the latter part of verse 9, where it says, And the men of Israel were gone away. He arose and smoked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand claimed unto the sword. His work did not diminish because the others were wrong in what they did. His work remained to be done. And he did it. And it wasn't taken away by the other's refusal to do what they were supposed to do. His work remained. And he carried on in the Lord's work. We find again that Eleazar is as Isaiah who said, Here am I, Lord, send me. There are times when perhaps you've seen, and it's especially recent of late, and you know there's some things out, and I've read documentaries about military and battles and different things in certain groups. And it was true with us, and law enforcement is supposed to be true, and that is that you do things not necessarily over the Constitution or for freedom, but you do it for the person standing next to you. He did it for the band of brothers who were there. Well, there was no one there for Eliezer. He could not say, if someone asked, why were you fighting, he could not say, well, I'm doing it for these with me. because there was none with him. He stood alone. Eleazar did it again for the Lord. That was his motive. There was no one on either side of him when he fought the enemy. Another aspect of Eleazar's character is that he was more spiritually minded than the others were. He was more spiritually awake and He was more full of the love for the cause of God than the others were. If they had been full of the love of God and the love of His work, and if they had been spiritually minded, they would not have gone away. There's a hymn in our hymnal called, Dare to be a Daniel. Maybe you've sang it before. Well, maybe they ought to write a hymn called, Dare to be an Elisar. Because he stood alone. And he went and he did some tremendous things here. He stood alone. And there were many shortcomings of those who should have stood with him, yet it did not change what he was doing. We find some more about his character. And there are times when we must go alone. In fact, the Bible is very specific that God does things few in numbers, doesn't He? He told Israel of old in Deuteronomy 7 verse 7, I did not choose you because you are a great people, but I chose you, you are the fewest of all people. We find in Judges chapter 7 and verse 7 that God said unto Gideon, by these 300 I will deliver or save Israel. We find in 1 Samuel 16 when we find that David alone goes out and fights Goliath. We find in Matthew 18 and verse 20 that Jesus said that where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. So, it's not uncommon for God to use a very few, or in this case, the one. It's not uncommon. And sometimes, some will be a hindrance and not a help. We ought to seek the help of brothers and sisters in the Lord, but we must be aware of the great fact that not all consider the cause of Christ as important as we do and as necessary to carry out. Not all do. In fact, in this case, Only one did. And everyone else turned away in the day of battle. Eleazar, we find in verse 10, that the Bible speaks of his weakness. It says in verse 10, he arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary. Now this might seem like contradictory. The Scriptures tell us in Hebrews 11 and verse 34 that they waxed valiant or grew strong in fight. And yet we find here that this was an individual that as he fought, he grew weary. And he did, physically. But spiritually, he was renewed within over and over and over again. The Bible tells us that he was Just a man, wasn't he? And we find in Jesus Christ and his earthly ministry, did he not grow weary at times? Absolutely he did. Eliezer was a brave man. He not only arose with the intention to smite the Philistines, but he did just that. He fought till his hand was weary. He didn't fight, until he didn't think he could fight no more. He fought until he could not fight anymore. Until his hand became weary. His hand was wearied in the work of the Lord. And boy, that would be something to have said of every one of God's people. How often do we weary our hand in our own work, but we save our hand in the work of God. Eleazar was not so. He wearied his hand in the Lord's work. He had a weakness, just like every one of God's children does. Every child of God is prone to this. If it were not so, then God would not have recorded in Galatians 6 and verse 9, and let us be weary, or let us not be weary in well-doing. You see, God had to tell us not to be weary because He knew we would grow weary of it. And I'm so glad that the Scripture says that Eleazar did not become weary of fighting the Philistines, but his hand became weary. It was his physical strength that grew weary, not the spiritual. And all that waxed valiant, didn't it? We find again that the Scriptures, and notice again in verse 10, notice the language that the Holy Spirit uses, and notice how the Bible speaks of it in this fashion. It says, "...he arose and smote the Philistine until his hand was weary, and his hand claimed unto the sword." It doesn't tell us that he grew weary or his hand grew weary of the work of the Lord, but that it grew weary in the work of the Lord. The Scriptures tell us in Hebrews 11 and verse 34 that we will wax valiant in fight. You see, the waxing valiant will happen in the fight. It doesn't say that you'll wax valiant before the fight or after the fight, but in the fight. And this is what happened to Eleazar. It wasn't until the Lord had wrought a great victory that his hand became weary. And that's when it ended, isn't it? Until his hand became weary. One writer rendered it in this fashion. He said he arose and smote the Philistines until his hand became weary. Until he could do no more. He did all that he could and yet in the flesh he could do no more. And spiritual fighting will make children of God very weary. Very weary. It did with Christ. it will wear you out. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Eliezer could have continued on day and night without any growing tired in the service of the Lord? But that's not what took place, is it? Sometimes there will be no strength left in us. Yet the Bible says the flesh is weak But it's the Spirit, the prophets, isn't it? Or the Spirit is willing. This is no strange thing for God's people. And there is no sin when the flesh grows weary in the service of the Lord. That's not a sin. What's a sin is where we don't even try the service of the Lord. or we weary our flesh and all of our earthly titillating experiences, and we have nothing for God. That's a sin. But here, when Eleazar put himself into the fight and into the fray, and his hand grew weary in the service of the Lord, that is no sin. He was weary all through him. His arm, his hand, no doubt. And yet we find that he was not to blame. And he should not blame himself, nor should any others. Blame him for growing weary. One of the reasons why Eleazar became weary was because of the enormous number of Philistines. I don't know necessarily how many there were. And I've never wielded a sword, if you would, in a day of battle. And the closest thing that I can tell you that I've ever been in like that was wrestling on the ground with an individual who outweighed me and was greater and taller than I was. But I can't imagine what it would have been against all those Philistines. And I believe that every blow that he delivered to them was a death blow. I don't believe that Eleazar tried to wound the enemies of God when God had told them to destroy and slay them. And I think that's one of the problems today is God has commanded us in Colossians 3 and in verse 5 to mortify the flesh, to put it to death, and we just want to kind of give it a paper cut. Kind of wound it. Eleazar was out there slaying men. And these weren't just, you know, potters. and artisans. These were warriors of the Philistines. And the Philistines, if you run back to Exodus, God said when He brought Israel out of Egypt, He says, I'm not taking them by the Philistines because if they see the Philistines, a warrior group of people, they'll be scared to death. So He took them round about another way. These were elite soldiers is what they were. And through faith He waxed valiant in strength. Eleazar was outnumbered. But the Bible tells us in Zechariah 4 in verse 10 that we are not to despise the day of small things. And here is one individual who dared to stand and carry out the service of the Lord. Eleazar could have become more weary because no one else was helping him. We have commented on this already. How that there was no assistance. No one cheered him. I remember that I had read in running and different things that if you have someone to cheer you as you run and as you pass by a certain point, if they're there, that if someone's there yelling at them to run faster, to cheer them on, their times will increase. And I experienced that in training for different things. That if there's someone there to cheer you on, you'll go better. There's some people who they can't get out of bed unless there's somebody there to cheer them on. And then when they get up out of bed to go, yay! Isn't it a sad thing that people want accolades for doing their reasonable service unto Jesus Christ? They want a pat on the back and acknowledgement. They want their name in lights. And look, I came to church this morning. Or I read my Bible today. That's the sinful flesh, isn't it? Because the flesh wants to be accepted. And God said, I only accept Jesus Christ. And that's offensive to the flesh. The flesh wants itself, look what I've done. Look what I've done. Look at me. Eleazar, look at what God has done. One thing we see here. And there are many things that we see. It's that Eliezer could look all around him and he could not see the faces of his brethren. There was no one to cheer him on. And in this we see the wonderful mercy of God. In that, Eliezer's weariness was not allowed to overcome him until he had beaten the Philistines. until the work was done. No wonder God makes our strength equal to the day that He sees fit. God did not give me strength on February 7, 2018 to do what He will have me to do on February 8, 2018. And He will not give me strength today for what He has for me to do Ten years from now. The strength will be given in the day. The waxing valiant will be given in the fight through faith. We have to go forth as Eleazar did, trusting the Lord. That his waxing valiant will come, the giving of strength will come in the fight. Truly, Eleazar did wax strong. We're reminded of an individual you may know by the name of Jacob. And I'm sure you're familiar with how Jacob wrestled with the angel. And you know, Jacob, when he came out of the wrestling with the angel, he had two things that he didn't have when he went in. Number one, he had a limp. Number two, he had a blessing. He didn't have either one of those until he wrestled the angel. And he waxed valiant in that wrestling. The Lord will not let our weakness become that which wearies Him. Though Eleazar became weary, and though he could do no more, yet we find a tremendous thing. Look here in verse 10, again of 2 Samuel chapter 23. He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand claved unto the sword." The word clave speaks about grasping tightly, about gripping onto something. And I'm sure you've heard the expression about a death grip that someone's had on something and they had a hold of it and they had to literally, I mean, break bones and pry open the hands. Eleazar had a grasp or a claving in his hand unto the sword. Even though his hand grew weary, he did not let go of the sword, did he? We ought to be cheerful about grasping our sword, the Word of God. God's Word ought to mean so much to us that we never let it go or let it down. I read a book, The Lone Survivor, about Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL. He was in Afghanistan and he had a rifle. And the mentality was, for these Navy SEALs, as long as I got my rifle, everything's fine. And as I was reading about it, I'm sure you've probably seen on the news or pictured Afghanistan, it's a very mountainous country. And at one point in their flight from thousands of Taliban individuals, they were literally jumping off of cliffs. And they would tumble down these hills and at no point was his rifle ever more than a hand's reach away from him. Eleazar did better than that. He never let go of the sword. And he never retreated. We must grasp God's Word because it is our very life. It is wrapped up in the Word of God. You must do it. Nobody else can grasp God's Word for you. No one can do that work of taking hold of the Word of God on your behalf. No one. We find that what occurs here is Eliezer wanted the Lord to receive the glory. In 2 Samuel chapter 23 and verse 10, some would read it, He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand claimed the sword, and Eleazar wrought a great victory that day." But that's not what it says. It says here, and the Lord wrought a great victory that day. Although Eleazar was in the battle, the battle was not victorious because of him. It was victorious because of the Lord. Some will say, and I'm sure you've heard them, you know, we can't do anything. You know, God's purposed it. He'll bring it to pass. Yet what we see here is that God gave the victory, but Eleazar was involved. And all the glory went to the Lord. Eleazar did not try to bring forth a substitutionary way either. The work was for him to take the sword and hew and hack the Philistines to pieces. And he did not try to circumvent that or do it some other way. He did it the way that God had said. We cannot substitute the way of the Lord. For anything, not salvation, not anything cannot be substituted. One writer put it this way, Eliezer was given the necks of the Philistines and he slew them. God gave them to him and he did it. And we need to realize that we have been given the work to do and the Lord has gone before us and we need to just do it. It's that simple. He did not wound them, but He slew them. And we must not wound the world, the flesh, or the devil, but we must slay the enemies of God. And you do so spiritually with the Word of God. Eleazar was humble. We find that he was a very humble individual. And we know this because he was God-reliant, or he had faith in God. He trusted God. This was not a suicide mission. Eliezer didn't say, look around and say, well everybody left, I'm going to die. I believe he expected the Lord to give the victory. And he went out and he fought and the Lord did give the victory. He had resolve in his heart that this was what he must do. We find, as we begin to look and close this evening, that Eleazar must have been a tremendous encouragement and influence to others. Because at the end of verse 9, and the men of Israel were gone away, and then the end of verse 10, and the people returned after him only to spoil what happened in between the example of Eleazar happened. Before that, they fled, and he went and fought, and after, they returned. So we ought to be encouraged, because we don't know what kind of example or encouragement we're going to be to people. The Bible says in verse 9, the men of Israel were gone away. They had turned away, and yet, they returned, didn't they? You have no idea, and I don't have any idea what kind of encouragement in the Lord we might be to some folks as we grasp the sword of God's Word. The others, though they did not come, though they did not fight, they came back for the spoils. There's a lot of people who like to come back for spoils, aren't there? I'm sure there's a lot of people last two days ago on Monday became a bunch of Philadelphia Eagle fans. It happens, doesn't it? What did Eliezer do? What did God do when that happened? Remember the story about the hen who took the wheat, and thrashed the wheat, and ground the wheat, turned it into flour, and then made the bread, and all the other animals gathered around, and said, who wants to help me cut the wheat, and who wants to help me thrash the wheat, and who wants to help me roll the wheat into flour, and who wants to help me bake the bread? And they all said, no, none of us. And then she says unto them, you know, who wants to help me eat this bread that I bake? Or whatever it was. And they all said, I do. And she says, no, because none of you helped. Eliezer did not do that. God did not forbid them from the spoils. What a merciful individual they both were. Though they did not assist and fight, yet Eliezer and God did not shoo them away from the spoils. No, the Scriptures say that the people returned after him only to spoil. They were a feeble folk for a time. Yet if we are faithful for a time, it will be an encouragement to others to come back. Eliezer, there is no record where he spoke to any one of them, is there? It was His example of grasping the sword that did it. His refusal to turn from the fight and His refusal to not do what God said that caused them to return. And it will be our refusal to deviate from God's Word that will cause folks to come to the spoil. It will not be compromise. It will not be concessions. but it will be the steadfastness of the sword grasped by the hand." The Lord brought them back and He did it by the example and fine of Elisar. We don't see this very much or very often. There are those who will be more faithful to God if they see it in others of His people. And in reality, it shouldn't matter what other people do because we're to be faithful to God regardless, aren't we? But we're a very weak people, aren't we? So God has given us one another to help us in the weak moments. One day you may be Eliezer and I may be one of the people. And another day I may be Eliezer and you're one of the people, and so on and so forth. We ought to desire to be as Eliezer, who waxed strong in the fight by faith. So here's an example of an individual who waxed valiant in the fight. He arose, he fought the Philistines, he grew weary, or his hand grew weary, but he never let go of the sword. Never did. And if we ever let go of God's word, will be in a world of hurt. So may God help us that we will cling unto the Word of God and unto the God of the Word.