Let's turn to the scriptures to 1 Samuel chapter 19. 1 Samuel 19, the book of Samuel is about the coming of God's kingdom. Israel has moved from the rule of judges, individual leaders, deliverers raised up to rule for a season, to rule probably not over the whole of Israel, but a part of it maybe, at least certain ones, and moving from the judges to the monarchy, the kingdom, when there would be a king, and Saul was the first king, really the king that the people wanted, but the Lord God has, through Samuel, anointed David to be the king after God's own heart. And Saul, recognizing that David is his replacement, is seeking to kill him. Last time we saw how everyone loved David, even Saul's son, Jonathan, and King Saul's daughter, Michael, was married to him. But Saul wants David dead. 1 Samuel 19 at verse 1. And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should 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 and hide yourself. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything, I will tell you. And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand, and he struck down the Philistine. And the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause? And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, as the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death. And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. And there was war again, and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the liar. And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that night. Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michael, David's wife, told him, if you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed. So Michael let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. Michael took an image and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goat's hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, he is sick. Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him. And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goat's hair at its head. Saul said to Michael, Why have you deceived me thus, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped? And Michael answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go, why should I kill you? Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived in Naoth. And it was told Saul, Behold, David is at Naoth in Ramah. Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. Then he himself went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Siku. And he said, where are Samuel and David? And one said, behold, they are at Naoth and Ramah. And he went there to Naoth and Ramah, and the Spirit of God came upon him also. And as he went, he prophesied until he came to Naoth in Ramah. And he, too, stripped off his clothes. And he, too, prophesied before Samuel, and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, Is Saul also among the prophets? People of God, the coming of God's kingdom brings crisis, it brings conflict, it brings warfare, and from our perspective, this conflict in the world that we see, that we at times endure, this tension, is very serious, very threatening, and very frightening. But from heaven's perspective, mankind's rebellion is senseless. Pathetic, ridiculous, and weak. As Psalm 2 puts it, Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. But while people conspire against God and shake their fists at God and say, we're gonna throw down your anointed and cast down your king and we will not submit, God doesn't seem to be afraid at all. He shows no respect to his challenger. He gives no credit to any power of his enemy, but as Psalm 2 says, he who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. And then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. Psalm 59 that David composed on this occasion says the same thing. The Lord laughs at his enemies. You know, we have those Psalms that say that, but tonight we're looking at a chapter that displays it, a vivid example of the Lord's mockery of his enemies, a mocking rebuke of man's rebellion. Here is Saul, he's a king, a man with power, a man with strength, a man who is capable. But three, four times over, the Lord defeats him. And at the end, he lies there naked, proclaiming the praise of God. This is the power of our Lord to preserve his anointed. Saul here has become quite suspicious that David is the one that God has anointed, that God has chosen to replace him. And what Saul should have done by now is surrender to the Lord, confess his sin, acknowledge he deserved to be kicked off the throne, and ask God for mercy. But Saul loves himself and his throne too much to do that. He will oppose the Lord. And Saul really hears opposing God and His grace. And Saul really can't do differently. In his unbelief, all he can do is oppose the Lord. In fact, that's the only option. If you don't yield to the Lord, then you must fight against the Lord. You must kick against His anointing. What we have here in Saul is a miniature picture, a microcosm of the story of the earth, right? For all those that have not been brought over to the Lord's side, all they can do is stand opposed to the Lord and against his anointed, conspiring to knock out the one who stands in their way. But the Lord in this chapter is also giving us a microcosm, isn't he? of the victory of his kingdom, showing us that he at any moment can lay his enemies out on the ground, that his anointed has been seated upon the throne and no one will take him off it. So tonight we see that in the fierce kingdom conflict that we endure, the Lord reveals his ability to protect his anointed. Notice first of all he does it by Jonathan's persuasion and then he does it through Michael's plotting. And then he does it by the Spirit's raw, unmediated power. Well, in the previous chapters, we said everyone loves David. He wins victories. He's a great leader. And as Saul sees David blessed in so many ways, that the heir apparent, Jonathan, loves David, and Saul's daughter loves David, and Israel loves David, and the soldiers love David, you'd think Saul might catch on that this man is greatly blessed of the Lord. As the Lord tests Saul in these ways and invites him to surrender, Saul refuses to do that. Saul loves Saul. Saul loves Saul's kingdom. And therefore, Saul hates what stands in the way or threatens Saul's kingdom. And that would be David, the Lord's anointed. And so at the beginning of chapter 19, Saul here calls a top secret meeting with his staff, Jonathan, his son, and his servants, and he says that they should kill David. They should assassinate David. And Saul here is clearly rejecting the Lord and rejecting God's grace, because the only reason he hates David is that David threatens Saul's kingdom. And you know, if you will not yield yourself and your life to the Lord and His kingdom, to find your life in Christ and His reign, but you want to maintain your own reign, then you're forced, aren't you, to oppose the Christ of God, the Anointed One. And we, even as believers, we experience this in our own lives and hearts when we're bent on doing something we shouldn't do, or we're determined to have our agenda, rule our day, and then, well, we don't really find pleasure in hearing about how God has blessed His Christ. And we don't love to hear how Jesus has triumphed and all his enemies will fall before him. And maybe we don't come to church, or if we do, we don't really want to listen. And when we hear people praising Jesus, it doesn't thrill our hearts. No, when we want to take a selfish path, and we might keep our Bibles closed and our ears plugged, and we don't want to hear about the glory of God's Christ, the Anointed One. But if that's true for us as believers at some moments in our lives, then how much more severe must it be in the heart of one who is still owned by the evil one? Remember who Satan is. This is the one who himself created to be a glorious servant of God, an angelic being, rebelled against God and said that he would have his own kingdom. And then he came into the garden and he invited us to do the same thing. Don't you want to be like God? Don't you want to have your own kingdom? And Adam and Eve, they bought it. And they tried to become their own kings and queens. But God, in His mercy, came into the garden and He took Adam and Eve back over to His kingdom. And God drew this line, this dividing line, this antithesis. And he said there's gonna be warfare and conflict now between these two sides and these two kingdoms and the children of these two kingdoms. And unbelievers are children of Satan, the Bible makes clear. Unbelievers seek a different kingdom. And therefore they are not naturally inclined to bow before Jesus Christ, but they actually see in Christ the threat to everything they hold dear. And we should be up front about this with ourselves when we invite unbelievers to church, that they're not naturally inclined to want to come in here They actually, they know that coming to church means coming to the place where they're gonna be told that they are not the king of their own kingdom, or if they're trying to be, they're in rebellion and they will fail. Coming to church means coming to hear the very antithesis of their life and their existence. They're being told that they may not reign, they may not rule, they may not have their own way, but they have to bow before God's anointed. And if they don't, he will crush them. Now we can smile at unbelievers and be very pleasant and invite them, but deep down they know the issue, they know the conflict. And they aren't real interested in bumping into the brick wall of God's Christ. He is an obstacle. to their personal campaign. So we must recognize that unless the Lord moves their heart, they wouldn't want to come. Or if they do come, naively, in coming to church, they would not want to submit to Christ and to his word unless the Lord opens their heart. And yet, ironically, the same people might think that inviting us to engage in sin with them would would receive a reception and a welcome among us. Isn't that strange? I mean, how is it that Saul here, who knows that his son Jonathan has covenanted with David, and that the people of the kingdom love David, how is it that Saul dares to ask Jonathan and his servants to kill David? Why do unbelievers sometimes invite us to do unbelieving things? Well, as someone has said, those who are gripped by evil often imagine that others are as easily corrupted as themselves. Or to say it differently, those who are gripped by evil cannot conceive of what it means to be devoted to Christ in His kingdom. They can't understand why we count devotion to Christ in His kingdom a superior pleasure. But Jonathan proves it, doesn't he? When he hears his dad wants to kill David, he doesn't have to Take some time to decide what to do. He doesn't have to choose now, is it gonna be Father or David, I don't know what to do. He's decided, his heart is in for God's kingdom and for David, God's anointed king. What a delight to have a heart that's transformed, a heart that sees it's no contest. There's no debate. I love the Lord, I love his kingdom, I love his anointed. So right away, Jonathan goes to tell David to warn him, and then Jonathan goes, taking his life in his hands, to go seek to persuade the premeditating would-be murderer, his father. And Jonathan approaches his father with respect, to be sure, but with a great deal of courage and conviction, urging his father not to sin against David. Reminding his father that David has not sinned against him. He has not tried to steal the throne. Reminding his father that everything David has done has been for the good of the kingdom. In fact, when he killed Goliath, you dad, you rejoiced. And then David says, why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause? And that's the language from Deuteronomy. as Jonathan here is preaching the law of God to his father. As Reformed believers, we sometimes say that the law has three uses. The first use of the law is as a mirror to show our sin and convict us, show us our need of Christ. The third use of the law is as a guide for gratitude. Having been saved, how now should we live to please God? But the second use of the law we refer to as the civil use, it's the use of God's law that restrains sin even in evil men. When the law of God is announced, when the threatenings are declared, then even wicked men who are not converted may by that very law be restrained in their sin. And that is a work of God, to restrain sin so that his church can live upon the earth and do her work. And it's that use of the law here, apparently, at work. In the unconverted Saul, nevertheless, when he hears Jonathan's reasoning and hears the language of innocent blood, and perhaps remember what Deuteronomy says about God, how he will judge the one who slays innocent blood. is brought to relent and to turn back from his murder. The Lord uses Jonathan here, his preaching. He uses Jonathan here in his persuasion. He uses even David's own righteousness here, doesn't he? We know, brothers and sisters, that if we are also anointed, The Lord's Day 12, remember, says we share in Christ's anointing. We are prophets and priests and kings. We've been anointed with the Spirit of Christ. And if that's the case, then we'll be hated in the world. We are enemy to those who are on Satan's side. But we should remember that God may be pleased at times to restrain some of the hatred and animosity we face through our righteous actions, and by appealing to God's righteousness and his law. Just because we're engaged in a kingdom conflict, and if you work beside an unbeliever, you have to know that, that you're on different sides. But that doesn't mean we have to escalate everything to an all-out brawl, right? Romans 12 says, if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it's written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by doing so, you'll heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. That's our calling. Seek to extinguish animosity, or at least to restrain it. by doing good. In a similar vein, in 1 Peter 2, Peter says, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. goes on to talk about putting to silence the ignorance of foolish people by living godly lives, by honoring the emperor. And so it is here that God the sovereign one is pleased to use David's righteousness and Jonathan's persuasive preaching to still the murder of Saul's heart. But it doesn't end there. Saul soon breaks his vow. We see secondly that God preserves his anointed through Michael's ploy. We read that Jonathan brings David back into Saul's presence. There's war again, David fights again, he's successful again, no doubt the people cheer for him again. But verse nine, there's a harmful spear from the Lord upon Saul. Saul is receiving the judgment of the Lord. God is tormenting him, that he's so tormented that he apparently sits in his own house with a spear in his hand. And as David is ministering to him with a lyre, Saul tries to kill him. And David escapes again from the spear, not because of his own agility, but because of the Lord's mercy. And here we're reminded that that it's the doing of good that may provoke. Notice that Saul becomes angry here, not because David has done something wicked, but because David has fought Saul's enemies, the Philistines, and David has ministered with the liar to Saul. This is what's brought about this great provocation in Saul's heart. We should remember that. Doing good doesn't always restrain hatred. Doing good and living honorably doesn't always calm the animosity, but it may in fact irritate it. Some of you have faced that, haven't you, when being a faithful and honest employee is actually provoked because the loafers have been irritated that you make them look bad. David's faithfulness to the Lord provokes Saul and his rebellion, and he tries to kill David again. As you look at Saul, you see a rather sad life. Here's a man who's really tied up in knots, right? He has all these competing desires. He's a helpless man. Gordon Keddy writes, without a saving change, a sinner is a mess. He hardly knows himself. And even though he knows that God will judge wickedness, he goes on doing it as if he has a death wish. Isn't this the state of the unregenerate man? He can't not sin. This is his heart. This is his life. Reminds us that sinners need far more than the second use of the law. Our neighbors don't just need us to tell them, you know what, you shouldn't murder, God doesn't like that. They need the first use of the law, they need the law to shatter their hearts and to humble them and to show them they're under the wrath of God and need deliverance. And they need more than that first use of the law, they need the gospel power to come and to transform them. Bring them to salvation. Saul is a vivid picture of the heart of the unbeliever, isn't he? God is opposing him at every turn, God is humbling him at every turn, God is calling him to surrender at every turn, and Saul can't let go of his spear. Suicidal irrationality. David flees from the spear, he goes home. He goes home. Maybe he thinks, well, Saul's just in a bad mood, he'll get over it, but Saul's daughter, Michael, knows better. And she points out the men outside who want to kill him. She gives him the ancient version of the modern, hey, did you see the van parked out front? And she says, you need to get out of here tonight or you're going to be killed. And so she lets David out through a window and he escapes. The words we read in Psalm 59, deliver me from those who work evil and save me from bloodthirsty men. For behold, they lie and wait for my life. And Michael, in her loyalty to her husband, does this little delay tactic of sticking a household idol in the bed, making it look like David is lying there in bed and telling Saul's servants that he's actually sick in bed, until they are sent back by Saul to bring the bed and discover the idol and David gone. It's interesting here, isn't it, that the Lord who could use the righteous speech of Jonathan to deliver his servant can also use the deception and lies of Michael to deliver his anointed. He can actually use a dumb idol to save his anointed. You know, the Psalms, right, they mock the idols. They can't speak, they can't move, they can't walk. The prophets mock the idols people worship. The foolishness of it. But isn't this a rebuke to Saul that now the idols are deceiving him? Isn't this a rebuke to Saul that as he pursues his own kingdom, which can only be a kingdom of lies, right? Every kingdom that's not the kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of Satan, which is the kingdom of deception, the kingdom of the lie. And here the Lord makes Saul fall into his own trap, the trap of the lie. And when Saul confronts his daughter, Michael, she says, well, what could I do? David said, let me go. Why should I kill you? And Saul, no doubt, knows that she's lying, his own daughter. Wouldn't this be humbling to discover your own son is against you, your own daughter has thrown in with your enemy? Your own family is going after the other guy. Isn't the Lord saying to Saul, there's no use, there's no use, there's no use, there's no use, turn, repent, fall down before me. But Saul's heart is so hard. The kingdom of Satan collapses in on itself. The kingdom of deception, the kingdom of lies, it cannot stand, it has no footing, no foundation. It's divided. Saul's facing a crisis. David, actually, is beginning now to face a crisis. Because, you know, from here on out, it's going to be David on the run. David persecuted. David, by leaving his house, is beginning the life of a refugee, of a homeless man. The question for David, is he willing to go? Is he willing to give it up? Is he willing to suffer for the sake of the Lord? with God showing that he is able, he's willing to protect his anointed. But there's another deliverance yet, one more, this time by the Spirit's raw, unmediated power. So David flees out the window and he escapes to the prophet Samuel, verse 18, at Ramah No doubt he would want to see Samuel, the guy who anointed him, got him into all this. And more importantly, the man who is the prophet of the Lord, who has the word of God, to whom he can ask for help and advice and so forth. And David and Samuel go to Naath, to the school of the prophets, maybe hoping, expecting that Saul would never dare to attack the school of the prophets, God's prophets. But Saul will dare. He is an open defiance of God and he is willing to kill all the servants of God if need be. And so Saul sends messengers to Neah. We might expect to read now what Samuel does. We heard of what Jonathan does, we heard of what Michael does, and maybe now we'll hear what Samuel does, but not this time. This time God just skips, bypasses the human intermediary and says, let me show you the reality. I can do this all myself. And as Saul's messengers come and see the prophets prophesying, they're overcome by the spirit of God and themselves begin to prophesy. Boys and girls, they begin perhaps to praise God and declare the glories of God's kingdom and the fact that it will prevail. So Saul sends some more messengers, and they're overcome by the spirit, and they prophesy. Saul sends messengers a third time, and they begin to prophesy. Saul throws up his hands and says, then I'll go do it myself. And on the way, he begins to prophesy. And when he gets to Naoth and Ramah, he strips off his clothes. prophesies before Samuel and lays naked all that day and all that night. Until they say, is Saul also among the prophets? An amazing thing. Saul here declaring the glories of God's kingdom. Saul here perhaps for praising the Lord's anointed. And what a complete circle we've come now, do you remember? Does the phrase ring a bell? Is Saul also among the prophets? Several chapters back, when Saul was being called out by God to be the king, and he met Samuel the prophet, Then he met some other prophets and the Spirit of God comes upon him and he begins to prophesy. And it's a sign now that he's being empowered by the Spirit for kingship. He's being anointed for the office. He's being clothed in royal garments to be king. And the people are amazed. There's Saul among the prophets? And now in his rebellion he has been told that his sons will not reign after him. And now he's been told that he himself will no longer be king. And now he, even as an individual person, is being rejected by God. And now rather than being clothed with power, he's being stripped naked so that at last he lays here, unclothed, judged by the Lord. The Lord has broken Saul. What an amazing work of God's Spirit here without any human help, without any soldiers, without any preachers, without any women doing mighty things. Just the raw power of the Spirit breaking the back of enemies, bringing them into submission. and reminding us of what Philippians 2 says, that God has exalted the Jesus who died for our sins, and he's given the name above every name, that in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord. We will see it all again one day. People laid out naked, proclaiming Jesus Christ is Lord. Rebels and God haters and all those who've been blaspheming his name all over our TV sets and radios, laying out, proclaiming Jesus is Lord. Rich and wealthy, high-minded politicians pursuing their own agendas for all of our days on earth, now naked, proclaiming Jesus is Lord. Psalm 2. calls all men to wise up. And it reminds us that Jesus Christ reigns now and forever, and no one will remove him from the throne. One commentator says, you can bash yourself against omnipotence, but the success rate is nil. Heaven laughs at such stupidity. There's a warning here. God was giving to Saul multiple warnings, multiple opportunities to turn back, to give up his quest of killing God's anointed, instead to fall before God's anointed, to confess his sin, to bow down and be saved. And we should take warning here tonight when we watch God over and over and over deliver his anointed and reveal over and over again that Saul cannot conquer God's anointed. We're supposed to get the idea, aren't we, that pursuing our own agendas, insisting on our own kingdom is a futile task. If our lives are full of disappointments tonight, If we sense God opposing us at each turn, can't move on, God's always blocking our way, then God is saying to us, wise up! You will not win against me. As Blackie put it, oh friends, if there be in you the faintest dissatisfaction with your past life, the faintest desire for a better, take advantage of the opportunity and turn to God. you will not succeed in casting off God's anointed. And you cannot have your own kingdom unless you kill God's anointed. So if you can't destroy God's anointed, if you can't knock them off the throne, then you know that your own kingdom is doomed to failure. Remember Balaam, hired to curse Israel. He tries to go forward on this wicked errand to go curse the people of God. God's anointed. God sends an angel with a flaming sword to stand in his way. Balaam doesn't see this angel, but his donkey does. Until Balaam's humiliated by his donkey and is told that this angel's in the way. He comes to see that. Then he says, I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Sin, I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now, therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back. The word of God that we hear week by week, the word of God that we hear tonight is our warning that if we're on our own mission, we're selfishly pursuing our own kingdom, if we say, I like my lust and I will have the fulfillment of my lust, I love my money and I will serve my money. I want these possessions and I will have these possessions. I want glory and honor and I will give for myself glory and honor. God stands in the way and we will not succeed. And he calls us to behold the Lord Christ as our obstacle and to turn back. Psalm two, you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way. How gracious God is. how merciful he was to Saul to show him over and over and over again that he could not triumph over God. And I would plead with you tonight as a preacher of God's word that if you are taking your own path and you think you're gonna have success, be warned tonight that you will fail and you will be so miserable. If you've got your own agenda, you've got your own kingdom, you're gonna be your own master, then you have to square off against Jesus Christ, the anointed, and you will not conquer him. He's already died for our sins and risen again and is seated upon the throne as the mighty conqueror, and the victory in the throne is his. If you shake your fist at him, God will laugh at you. Tonight, God's word says, turn back. Say to God, I did not know it was you. I did not know you were in my way, or I did know, but I was unwilling to turn, but now I am. Take me back, Lord. Receive me. Forgive me. Restore me. And God will do that. Christ is a merciful, merciful King, and all who come to Him, He will in no wise cast out. He gives forgiveness of sins. He gives a new heart. He gives a new life. He gives you a place in His kingdom. He crowns you with glory and honor and satisfies your heart. And Psalm 2 ends by saying, blessed are all who take refuge in Him. When you take refuge in God's anointed, then you know. that all that we see in this chapter, all of God's opposing Saul, all of his preserving David, it's all for you. In Christ, it's for you. This is your protector, this is your God. He can calm down the angry boss by the preaching of his law. He can defeat Satan with his own lies. Or he can just send his Holy Spirit and bring your enemies to lay naked and praise God if he wants to. This is your God. This is your protector, this is the preserver of your life. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. And so Psalm 59, the psalm we read, ends, but 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. Michael said, you're going to be dead in the morning. David sings, I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For all those who unite to Christ, that's your song. Trouble and conflict on this earth, to be sure. Hated by the world, yes, indeed. Persecuted by those who want to destroy God's anointed, yes. but in the morning you will sing. You will sing of the Lord's steadfast love. You will see your Christ coming on the clouds. You will see your Christ bringing you glory and honor. You will see the cause of the Jesus you love lifted high and exalted. You will see the victory, amen. Our Father in heaven, we see ourselves in Saul and we are humbled. What fools we have often acted as, thinking that we could oppose you. Forgive us, Lord, our sin and bring us low. Heavenly Father, how often we've been fearful to live for Jesus and to embrace his kingdom. Show to us our protection and give us comfort. We praise you, God, that you've guarded the life of your Christ, that evil men did not overcome him, but he overcame them. that he who was murdered on the cross has been lifted high and exalted, that you have given him the name above every name, that every knee should bow and tongue confess him, Lord. We pray that Jesus Christ would reign for the good of his church, and we pray that you'd return him to us soon. And we pray, Lord, that his cause will be our cause, and his protection will be our protection until he comes again. In his name we pray, amen. We've seen number.