Alright, am I on Mark? Alright, we're going tonight and we're continuing our study of trusting God and we're looking at God's sovereignty and we've been looking at God's sovereignty over the nations and we saw that that involved God sovereignly sets up governments and every government that is ordained is established by God. And then we saw that God moves rulers to make decisions as He directs them to make, and we saw some examples of that. And last week we began looking at the truth that God determines military victories. Now, Proverbs 21, 31. Proverbs 21, 31 says this, The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. The horse is prepared for the day of battle. Now, what do you think that's another way of saying it? People make preparations, don't they? And I don't think it's wrong for a nation to make military preparations. The horse was a very important part of military campaigns, and so the horse IS prepared for the day of battle. He's trained, he's prepared, he's equipped, but the victory belongs to the Lord. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman guards in vain, doesn't he? Unless the Lord builds a house, they who labor, labor in vain. Didn't say we shouldn't labor, didn't say we shouldn't guard, but you need to realize if it's not the Lord with you, you're not doing anything profitable. So God's the one that determines military victories. The victory belongs to the Lord. Now last week, Who did we look at? Gideon. You got it. And when I say Gideon, what do you think about? But this week, when I ask you that, what would you say? All right. There you go. He was. But God used that coward, didn't he? Amen. Yeah. Yeah, okay, you remember that, good. And just like God whittled down Israel's army until there were only 300 going against 135,000 to show that the glory, the battle was His, the victory was His, He took a nobody coward from the least of the tribes, least family of the least tribe. He was even the youngest in His family, and God used that nobody to lead that 300 to defeat that 165,000. That's right, you don't have to know that. That was in Judges. But take your Bible today and turn to 1 Samuel 14. I heard a song today that says that little is much when God's in it. Little is much when God's in it. We tend to think bigger is better. Not always. Probably most of the time it's not. But if God's in it, little is much. God plus one is a majority. God is not constrained by many or by a few. He can accomplish the victory, and we're going to see it tonight in this situation with Saul's son, Jonathan. Here we go, let's pick it up, and let me pray as we get started. God, thank You for Your Word. We thank You that it's absolute truth, and we can have complete confidence in it to speak to us, to reveal Your person to us. And may we see You tonight. May we see You in Your Word, in Jesus' name, amen. 1 Samuel 14 verse 1, Now the day came that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who was carrying his armor, Come let us cross over to the Philistine garrison that is on the other side. But he did not tell his father, King Saul. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gebeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron. Now you know that had to be a famous tree. If all he had to do was mention that tree, everybody knew. That's like saying the big chicken. He was up by the big chicken. Yeah, you know I used to live over in Atlanta off of North Druid Hills Road. I still knew what the Big Chicken was. I didn't have to move to Cobb County to find that out. It was a landmark that people know about. And so the pomegranate tree was like the Big Chicken. And he was describing where he was. And the people who were with him were about 600 men. And Ahijah, the son of Ahatub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the Lord at Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. And between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistine garrison, there was a sharp crag on one side and a sharp crag on the other side. And the name of one was Bozes, and the name of the other was Senneth. The one crag rose on the north opposite Mixmash, and the other was on the south opposite Geba." So here, Jonathan, his armor bearer, comes to this high place that's got two crags. And Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "'Come, let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. Perhaps the Lord will work for us. For the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few." So what's he saying? He's saying, it's just two of us, but God's, that doesn't make a difference to God. One plus God's a majority. You're on God's side, doesn't matter how many on the other side. He's with you. His will will be accomplished. Jonathan says, God doesn't have to have a lot of people. He can save by just a few if He wants to. And his arm of Bauer said to him, do all this in your heart. Turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire. Now, the translators, that word turn yourself there in that phrase doesn't make a whole lot of sense because it was an idiom. It was an idiom that basically meant, all right, get to it. Set your face to it. You're determined to do it? Let's do it. So he's saying, all right, come on, let's go. Turn yourself. Then Jonathan said, behold, we will cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them. Now, if they say to us, wait until we come to you, then we will stand in our place and not go up to them. But if they say, Come up to us, then we will go up, for the Lord Yahweh has given them into our hands, and this shall be a sign to us." And so Jonathan and his armor bearer are climbing up the cliff, going up to the sharp place where the Philistine soldiers were on the top. And so when they got over the edge and the Philistine soldiers saw them, he said, If they say to us, Wait there and we'll come to you, then hey, we wait and then we get out. But if they say, Hey, come over here, come to us, then we'll know the Lord's given us the victory. So he believed God could control the Philistines and what they said, didn't he? So when both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, Behold, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves. Now the term Hebrews was a slur. It was a derogatory term. So they were not complimenting them. They were saying, look at these scumballs. They're coming out of the holes of the ground. They were making fun of him, saying, Look, he's appeared like a gopher, sticking his head out of the hole, because he was coming over the edge of the cliff. So the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, Come up to us, and we will tell you something. And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, Come up after me, for Yahweh has given them into the hands of Israel. So Jonathan had confidence in the sovereignty of God, and when God moved those pagan Philistines to say, Hey, come on, come on over here, we've got something to tell you. And the Philistine soldiers were thinking, and they climbed this high, steep cliff, and man, they're going to be worn out, and we're going to just take them to the cleaners, just two of them. And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet with his armor-bearer behind him. And they fell before Jonathan and his armor bearer put some to death after him. And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about 20 men within half a furrow in an acre of land. So it wasn't a very big area, only a half of a furrow within an acre, maybe the size of this room. And Jonathan and his armor bearer killed 20 of the Philistines. And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and the raiders trembled, and the earth quaked so that it became a great trembling. Evidently, the other soldiers, who were not out with this 20, saw what was going on and saw that two of the Hebrews had defeated 20 of them and they got afraid. They got upset. And then God sent a trembling, an earthquake-type situation, even frightened them more. Now Saul's watchman in Gebeah of Benjamin looked And behold, the multitude melted away, and they went here and there." He sees the Philistines beginning to scatter because they are afraid. Saul said to the people who were with him, "'Number now and see who has gone from us.' And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there." So Saul said to Ahijah, "'Bring the ark of God here.' for the ark of God was at that time with the sons of Israel. So while Saul talked to the priest, the commotion in the camp of the Philistines continued, and it even increased. So that Saul said to the priest, Withdraw your hand. Now what does that mean? Well, evidently he had the arch come and he had the priest come because he wanted some direction. Find out from God. Now what do we need to do? Remember the ephod was kind of a thing that was used, the urim thorum was used to get direction and guidance from the Lord. Well, it seems like Saul got impatient, and so he just told the priest, just get away, get away, just hold your hand. I'm going on anyway, I'm not going to wait. And remember, it cost him dearly a little later. So he says, withdraw your hand, move back, get away, I'm not going to wait. Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle. And behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was great confusion there again as we've seen before God loves to confuse the enemy so they turn on each other and end up fighting and killing most of themselves before his people even have to get involved and that's what was all happening here like we saw last week with Gideon right and the Midianites now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously who went up with them all around in the camp, even they turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan." Well, what in the world is that? What's saying here? They're the Israelites who were with the Philistines previously. Philistines had captured some of the Israelites, and they were probably using them as servants to serve them and their army, and when they saw what God was doing for Israel, they themselves took that as an opportunity to forsake their Philistine masters and to join their Israeli brothers. so that's what he's talking about there and when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled even they also pursued them closely in the battle here comes the writer editor giving us the truth so the Lord delivered Israel that day and the battle spread beyond Beth-Avon." So He makes it clear to us that it wasn't Saul or Israel's ability or might that brought about the victory, but who was it that gave them the victory? The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. Amen. Now we've got time to look at another one here. Look over in 1 Kings chapter 20, and if you want to see this in modern times, go look at the Six Day War. Man, God moved in and protected that nation from those hostile enemies all around them, and six days they got the victory. And you read about it, hear about it, you will hear miraculous things that God did. 1 Kings chapter 20, beginning with verse 1. This involves King Ben-Hadad. Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and there were 32 kings with him and horses and chariots and they went up and besieged Samaria and fought against it Then he sent messengers to the city of Ahab, king of Israel, and said to him, Thus says Ben-Hadad, Your silver and your gold are mine. Your most beautiful wives and children are also mine. And the king of Israel replied, It is according to your word, my lord, O king. I am yours and all that I have. He was just surrendering. No hope, I got to surrender. Then the messengers returned and said, thus says Ben, hey dad, surely I sent to you saying you shall give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children. But about this time tomorrow, I will send my servants to you and they will search your house and the houses of your servants and whatever is desirable in your eyes, they will take it in their hand and carry away. So I'm just going to come in and plunder you and your nobles and everybody else and just take whatever I want. Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, please observe and see how this man is looking for trouble. For he sent to me for my wives and my children and my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him. And all the elders and all the people said to him, do not listen or consent. So he sent to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, Tell my lord the king all that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do, but this thing I cannot do. I'll give you the first, but not come in and take everything, everything that's dear. Evidently he was going to sacrifice the silver and the gold and the wives, even the children. And the messengers departed and brought him word again. And Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, May the gods do so to me and more also if the dust of Samaria will suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me. And he was saying, God's gonna get y'all and get y'all bad. Y'all be nothing but dust. Then the king of Israel replied, Tell him let not him who grind excuse me, who girds on his armor boast like him who takes it off. Don't boast in having a victory before you have it. Right? Don't let the man who's got his football uniform on boast like he's taking it off after the victory. When Ben-Hadad heard this message as he was drinking with the kings in the temporary shelters, he said to his servants, station yourselves." So they stationed themselves against the city. Now, behold, a prophet approached Ahab, king of Israel, and said, Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver them into your hand today, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. You know, Ahab was a wicked king. Remember, his wife was Jezebel. But God's going to work anyway. Ahab said, By whom? So he said, Thus says the Lord, By the young men of the rulers of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he answered, You. Then he mustered the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two. And after them he mustered all the people, even all the sons of Israel, seven thousand. And they went out at noon while Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the temporary shelters with the 32 kings who helped him. And the young men of the rulers of the provinces went out first, and Ben-Hadad sent out. And they told him, saying, men have come out from Samaria. Then he said, if they've come out for peace, take them alive. Or if they have come out for war, take them alive. So these went out. from the city, the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and the army which followed them. And they killed each his man, and the Arameans fled, and Israel pursued them, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen. And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and the chariots and killed the Arameans with a great slaughter. Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and observe, and see what you have to do, for at the turn of the year, the king of Aram will come up against you." In other words, God's giving you this victory, but you need to go and see what you need to shore up, what you need to fix, what you need to strengthen, because He's coming back. Because remember, Ben-Hadad escaped, and He said He's coming back. Verse 23, Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, their gods are the gods of the mountains. Therefore they were stronger than we, but rather let us fight against them in the plain. and surely we will be stronger than they. Do this thing, remove the kings each from his place and put captains in their place. And must an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, chariot for chariot, then we will fight against them in the plain and surely we will be stronger than they. And he listened to their voice and did so. They said, Oh, God of Israel is a God of the mountain. That's why y'all had the victory, because we fought in the mountain. And He's a God of the mountain, but we'll fight Him in the plain, and we'll prevail, because He's not a God of the plain. Well, now we know better than that, don't we? Huh? Man, He was throwing down the gauntlet before the Lord. At the turn of the year, Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Abhek to fight against Israel. The sons of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went to meet them, and the sons of Israel camped before them like two little flocks of goats." But the Arameans filled the country. Isn't that a poetic picture here? The Israelites were just like two little flocks of goats compared to all their Aramean soldiers. Verse 28, Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, Thus says the Lord. Because the Arameans have said, the Lord is the God of the mountains, but He is not a God of the valleys. Therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Yahweh." So they camped one over against the other seven days. And on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the sons of Israel killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. But the rest fled to Abhek and to the city, and the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left. And Mid-Hadad fled and came into the city and to the inner chamber. So God said, OK, you say I'm not a god of the valley? We'll see. God took those little flock of Israel, killed over 100,000, and then the 27,000 that escaped, you know what happened to them? The wall fell on them. You can't get away from the Lord. They thought they were safe, they were back home by themselves. Hey man, we made it, we made it. And then the wall falls down on them. God is sovereign. God works to bring about military victories. He will work on your behalf. You may be fighting battles in your life, not physical battles as such on the battlefield, but you may have some emotional battles. You may have some mental battles. You might have some battles at work. You may have some family battles. God will fight on your behalf as well. You just need to trust Him, look to Him, depend on Him, and follow His word. and trust Him. All right, Paul, you'll lead us in our prayer time.