1 Samuel chapter 14, and if you've read ahead, you know this is a rather lengthy reading. It's a full 52 verses, twice as long as our passage this morning, and then some, which is wonderful. Let me say before we begin, this pair of sermons, today's pair of sermons, and they really are a matching set. I was almost tempted to preach them both in one go, but that would have been very, very long. This pair of sermons reminds me of the VHS version of The Return of the King that we had at home when I was growing up. I know that this will fly over the heads of some younger people, but when I was young, movies were watched primarily on these black things called VHS tapes. And when the movie was too long, you actually had to split the thing up into two tapes. The first half of the movie was on the one, the second half was on the other one. So, once you're finished the one, you pop in the second one, and you hope that you rewound it last time you watched it. And this was the case for the VHS copy of Return of the King that we owned. And the first tape ends in the most hopeless part of the story. The great city of Men, Minas Tirith, is surrounded by enemies, the hordes of the evil kingdom of Mordor, and it's plain that they have no hope. Despair has gripped their hearts. The city reeks of fear. There are too few of them. There are too many of their enemies. No amount of valor will save the city. The might of men has failed. Then just to crank up the pressure even more, a great battering ram named Grond is being slowly wheeled toward the city gates, and the evil army is chanting, Grond, Grond, Grond, Grond. Then it fades to black. And in 1 Samuel, that's where we are now. At the end of 1 Samuel 13, all hope seems to have disappeared. Saul's reign seems to be at an end. God's people are about to be crushed. We saw this morning the might of men had indeed failed. Saul has failed. Israel has failed. The only hope that Israel has is that the Lord will somehow step in on His people's behalf. But these dire straits, this was never the way things were supposed to be. Many of you will be familiar with God's promise in Leviticus 26, His promise of blessing. If you walk in My statutes, if you observe My commandments and do them, then I will give you rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. But then also you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you will chase a hundred. And a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke. I have made you walk erect." It's really an Old Testament version of, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy. My burden is light. God is inviting Israel in Leviticus 26, and He's inviting you, by the way, as well, to live in communion with Him, to believe in Him, to take His yoke on you, a light yoke, an easy and non-oppressive yoke in place of the heavy yoke of the world, because He's freed you from that if you're in Christ. He's freed you from that. But so many of us are like King Saul. We see God's rules as a cruel tyranny, and we take our cues from the world instead, and we say, let us break their bonds asunder. The Lord and His Christ will not reign over us. We will make our own rules. We don't say those words, of course not. So often that's the posture of our hearts. And like He did with Saul, the Lord often allows the results of our decisions to weigh oppressively, heavily upon us before He frees us from them, if He frees us from them again. Because you see, as we'll see in this chapter, the Lord is under no obligation to save men, even His people, from their own folly. He often does. And every one of us, I think, can testify to that. He saves us from our folly. But in no way is he obliged to, and Scripture warns us not to take the patience of the Lord for granted, but rather to count it as salvation. And that warning, to not take the Lord's patience for granted, it's no paper tiger. It's a very real warning. Don't take the Lord's patience for granted, thinking, well, He has to forgive me, that's His job. No, Scripture says that's the path to hell. Well, suitably warned then, let's open our Bibles to 1 Samuel 14. It's a rather long chapter again, but the author has broken it down for us into three sections, which we'll examine in turn over the course of the sermon. The first 23 verses tell us that the battle, despite what's happening in Israel, the battle still belongs to the Lord. As Jonathan says, nothing can hinder the Lord by saving, whether by many or by few. In the next 23 chapters, 24 through 46, He tells us, the author tells us, that the folly and failure belong to men, and to men alone, not to God. And then in the final few verses, he gives us this summation, this rather disappointing summation of Saul's reign. But let's begin reading 1 Samuel chapter 14, beginning at verse one. So one day, Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who carried his armor, come on, let's go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side. But he didn't tell his father. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the palm granite cave at Migrin. The people who were with him were about 600 men, including Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord, and Shiloh wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. Within the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozes, and the name of the other, Senna. The one crag rose on the north in front of Micmash, the other on the south in front of Geba. Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, Come on, let's go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. And his armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you, heart and soul. And Jonathan said, Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, Wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, Come up to us, then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us. So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, and the Philistines said, look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they've hidden themselves. And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, come on up to us, and we'll show you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel. Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet and his armor-bearer after him, and they fell before Jonathan. And his armor-bearer killed them after him. And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about 20 men within, as it were, half a furrow's length in an acre of land. And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled. The earth quaked, and it became a very great panic. And the watchmen of Saul and Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude was dispersing here and there. And Saul said to the people who were with him, count and see who's gone up from us. And when they had counted, 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 people of Israel. Now while Saul was talking to the priests, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priests, Withdraw your hand. And then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, every Philistine's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great confusion. Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle. So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed beyond Beth-Aven. And the men of Israel who had been hard-pressed that day. So Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening, and I am avenged on my enemies. So none of the people had tasted food. Now when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground. And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath. So he put out the tip of his staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth and his eyes became bright. Then one of the people said, your father strictly charged the people with an oath saying, cursed be the man who eats food this day. And the people were faint. Then Jonathan said, my father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great." Well, they struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon, and the people were very faint. The people pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground, and the people ate them with the blood. Then they told Saul, behold, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating with the blood. And he said, you have dealt treacherously. Roll a great stone to me here. And Saul said, disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, let every man bring his ox or his sheep and slaughter them here and eat and do not sin against the Lord by eating with the blood. So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night and they slaughtered them there. And Saul built an altar to the Lord. It was the first altar that he built to the Lord. Then Saul said, let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them into the morning light. Let us not leave a man of them. And they said, do whatever seems good to you. But the priest said, let us draw near to God here. And Saul inquired of God, shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel? But he did not answer that day. And Saul said, come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. For as the Lord lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. Then he said to all Israel, you shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, do what seems good to you. Therefore Saul said, O Lord God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim, but if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. Then Saul said, cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan, and Jonathan was taken. And Saul said to Jonathan, tell me what you've done. And Jonathan told him, I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I will die. And Saul said, God do so to me and more also, you shall surely die, Jonathan. Then the people said to Saul, shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it. As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of His head fall to the ground, for He has worked with God this day." So the people ransomed Jonathan so that he did not die. Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place. When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them. And he did valiantly instruct the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them. The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Melchishua. And the names of his two daughters were these. The name of the firstborn was Merab, the younger, Mikau. And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, was the son of Abiel. There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he attached him to himself. This is the Word of God. Well, Saul was an outwardly impressive man, a giant of a man, head and shoulders above everyone else in Israel, but he was a man with a hollow heart. His heart, in very few ways, if any ways, resembled the heart of God. Saul valued strength and mortal might and the ability to manipulate. He had, it seems, he had very little patience for small things, as great men often lack. And he deemed piety, indeed, to be a small and feeble thing. And you know, most people today have the same kind of outlook. Piety, they'll say, is the last refuge of helpless men. Piety is the last refuge of helpless men, and they're right. They're right, but they fail to realize just how helpless all of us are. Piety is, in fact, the last refuge and the only refuge of helpless men. But hollow Saul has a great-hearted son, Jonathan, the kicker of hornets' nests. Jonathan is unwilling to follow in his father's footsteps. Saul keeps counting his army again and again, trying to organize them and shuffle the deck and fortify the strength of men. But Jonathan, Jonathan takes the Lord at His word. Saul stays back at the camp under a palm granite tree, or in the palm granite cave perhaps. where his 600 men provide him with a reasonable amount of security. And in addition to them, he's brought a priest, wearing the uniform of the priest, bringing with him the ark of God. Though Samuel had told him in the earlier chapter that the Lord was no longer pleased with him, Saul is bound and determined to have the Lord on his side. And so he engages in the same sort of rabbit's foot theology we saw in chapter 4. But Jonathan leaves the security of the camp. And he takes with him none but his squire, if you will, his armor-bearer. See, the Philistines were in a natural fortress. They were entrenched there on top of their cliffs. They were in what could be considered an impenetrable position. Even if Saul had the army he wanted, even if he had the thousands of Israel, there's very little chance he could have successfully assaulted it. This is not a victory that tactics can win. But Jonathan knows better than Saul, and so he says to his squire, come on, let's go to the garrison of those uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. Saul may despise small and weak things, but Jonathan's got a larger perspective. He knows that the nations are like the dust on the Lord's scales. He knows that the hearts of kings are held like water in the hands of the Lord. He knows that the nations, yeah, they take their stand against the Lord and against His Messiah. But the one who sits in heaven laughs. And while Saul takes his cues from earth, Jonathan adopts the view of heaven. And you see this, really, in how he refers to the Philistines, these uncircumcised, he calls them. He recognizes that every war that God's people wage is a holy war because they are a holy people. And the Philistines, well, these uncircumcised, they don't belong in God's land. And the sacrament of circumcision gives Jonathan this incredible boldness. It's a sign to him that he is on the Lord's side. And I wonder if baptism has ever done the same thing for you. You'll remember that this was Martin Luther's way of facing temptation. When the pressures of the world mounted, when the devil seemed closest at hand, what was his cry in Latin? Baptizatus assum, I am baptized, he would say. He'd remind himself, and he'd cry out to the devil, you can't touch me, I am baptized. And you know, baptism marks you as a holy It tells you, and it reminds the Lord, and it warns the devil, hands off. This one belongs to Jesus. And the things that Solomon knows overpower the things that he sees. And he walks up to that natural fortress, aiming to catch the eyes of the Philistine guards. And he says to his armor-bearer, well, if they tell us to wait down here, we won't go to them. If they tell us to come on up, we'll go up, and you know what? We're going to win, because the Lord is on our side. And lo and behold, the Philistine guards, they see them way down there in the valley and they say, come on up and we'll show you something. And with this assurance of the Lord's help, Jonathan and his squire, they rise up and they kill the guards and they begin to slaughter the armies of the Philistines. And this army with its thousands of chariots and legions of infantry begins to panic. And pretty soon the whole camp is in an uproar, absolute chaos. And the armies of Philistia, they flee their fortress in a disorganized mess. And as they flee back toward their home of Philistia, they run past the hill where Saul and his men are. And the watchmen on the hill of Gibeah, they see and they report to Saul, Saul, the Philistines are fleeing, and Saul, again, faithless Saul, decides it's a good time to count the men one more time. And Saul, faithless Saul, he tells the priest, go grab the ark and figure out whether or not we should go against the Philistines. But then he's dissuaded of this when the tumult of the Philistine camp becomes so chaotic that it reaches even his ears. Never mind, never mind, he tells the priest. Put that ark back. And then Saul and his 600 men, minus two, they run down the slope and they smash into the Philistine ranks as they're fleeing. But what need do they have of swords of their own now? The Philistines have begun to slaughter the Philistines. And the Israelites who had defected, who had been turncoats, turn out to be Israelites indeed, and they join in the battle as well. And Philistia's mighty hosts, now humiliated, they stream throughout the land, conquered instead of conquerors. And the graves of Israel that had been filled with the soldiers of Israel are now emptied, and the cowards who had hidden themselves, they come forth with new courage in their hearts." It's a great story. But we'd be Saul-like fools to suggest that this was just Jonathan's victory or that this was just Israel's victory. This is the Lord's victory. It's what Jonathan said in verse 6. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. Jonathan never went up there to be the hero, to be the one who single-handedly slaughtered, decimated the Philistine armies. He didn't go up there with some kind of martyr complex, as some kind of kamikaze warrior. No, no, no. There's nothing of human wisdom here. If there had been, they wouldn't have gone out secretly. Jonathan would have told his father, Father, I've got an idea, I've got a plan, I know how we can defeat the Philistines. No, no, no, Jonathan knows better. He knows that if there's to be victory, it will need to be the Lord's victory. Israel is in a hopeless position that no amount of tactical maneuvering could undo. And you see here, Jonathan, he's not reasoning based on what he sees with the eyes in his head. He's reasoning based on the eyes in his heart. Jonathan has faith. Hebrews 11.33, speaking of the heroes of the faith. By faith they conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight. Jonathan believes the promises of God. He's read Leviticus. He believed that God was mighty to save, and by faith he crushes the Philistines and understands that it's God who's doing the crushing. You see, even if Jonathan and his squire had meant to sow confusion in the Philistine camp, there's no way that two men, only one of them having a weapon, by the way, should have been able to, and they wouldn't have been able to. The Philistines are trembling here. Why are they trembling? Well, it's not just because of Jonathan and his squire. Look at verse 15. And there was a great panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled. The earth quaked, and it became a very great panic. Why are they trembling? It's not because of Jonathan, one man against a multitude, as brave as he was. No, no. It's because the Lord has joined the fight. Jonathan framed this battle, as is right, in purely religious categories. The battle belongs to the Lord. The Lord will fight His battles if His people pray. And the Lord who Hannah told us had set the earth on its pillars, the Lord breaks the bows of the mighty and binds strength onto His feeble people. The Lord who had set the earth on its pillars, He now shakes the earth and causes His enemies to tremble, and He sends the Philistines packing. And then verse 20. Chaos in the Philistine camp, well, chaos that came from God. And behold, every Philistine's sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. It's not as though the Philistines in the darkness, because there is no darkness here, it's the middle of the day, it's not as though the Philistines in the darkness didn't recognize their fellow Philistines. No, no, no, no, no. You'll recall the words of Psalm 70, verse two, let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my light. Or consider Psalm 9, "'The nations, they have sunk in the pit that they have made, and the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. The Lord has made Himself known, He has executed judgment. The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.'" See, the Lord brings the counsels of the nations to nothing. And in the end, even Babylon the Great, Revelation tells us. will be torn apart by her own lovers and servants. This is how the Lord fights his battles. He allows evil to take down evil. And finally in verse 23, so the Lord saved Israel that day. Saul's got no idea what's going on. But the author of 1 Samuel and Jonathan himself, they know what's up. The Lord saved Israel that day. The Lord was Israel's salvation. Jonathan was a Savior, a type of Christ who saw that there was no one else to save, who armed himself for the battle, whose own arm brought him the victory. But just as with Christ, so with Jonathan, the Lord won the victory. But where the battle belongs to the Lord, the folly belongs, in this case, to King Saul. This is so often the case, almost inevitably so. God's purposes are frustrated, not by the might of his enemies, but by the faithlessness of those who claim to be his followers. As always, the greatest danger to God's flock, it's not the lions and tigers and bears outside, but the faithless shepherds inside. The greatest danger to any church is that its elders will not be Christ-like men, but rather shepherds who eat the flock. Saul, in what could be seen as a desperate attempt to get the Lord on his side, he had laid a curse on Israel, trying to wrestle the Lord into position so that the Lord will do what Saul wants Him to do. And he said to the people of Israel, "'Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening, until I am avenged on my enemies.'" And he extends the curse in verse 39, saying, "'He shall surely die, even if it's Jonathan my son.'" See, Saul, in tragic but characteristic form, he once again puts himself in the place of God. He tells Israel, they may not eat anything until the day of victory is over. And he's just about quoting Genesis 2 here. You may not eat, for the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. And why? Why does Saul use these words? Well, because of his pride. because he feels that the Philistines have slighted him. And so Saul needs to be avenged, as he says, I need to be avenged on my enemies. These are not the words of a man dedicated to the will of God. These are the words of a man who has put himself in the place of God. It's pride. It's pride, not piety that enforces this fast. It's the kind of fast that the Lord despises. And so instead of the holy and good fear of God spreading throughout Israel's armies, the fear of Saul spreads like a cancer. And even when honey, like manna on the ground, is provided for Israel's soldiers to keep up their strength for the fight, they dare not eat what God has given, lest the curse of their king should fall on him. A faithless king is a weight around the neck of any nation. But Jonathan, of course, Jonathan hadn't been in the camp when Saul made this foolish pronouncement, and so he wisely, he sees this honey on the ground as a manna-like gift from God to brighten his eyes, to make him strong for God's fight. God always arms His soldiers and provisions His soldiers for His fight, you know? He never says, fight this battle, but I'm not gonna sustain you, I'm not gonna support you, no. He always equips those he calls. And so Jonathan dips his staff into the honey and he eats it. And there's this immediate contrast there. Jonathan, bright-eyed and full of energy, even though he'd been chasing the Philistines for the longest. And then the Israelite men, drooping, exhausted. too worn out to continue the pursuit. Three times, the author tells us, they were tired, they were tired, they were very, very tired. And the fearful soldiers, they tell Jonathan what his own father had told them, and Jonathan, he sees the folly in his father's pride. Well, my father has troubled the land, he says. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little bit of this honey? How much better if the people had eaten freely of the spoil of their enemies that they found, for now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great. Any even casual historian of military history will tell you that the great armies are not defeated on the battlefield itself. You know, a few men are usually lost on the battlefield itself. It's once the enemies have turned and run that the real defeat takes place. They're disorganized. They're unable to put up a fight. Their will has been shattered. The only way you can really defeat them, though, is if you can catch them. And Saul's folly has cut Israel's victory short. But the fruits of his folly don't stop there. By this point, Israel's army is all but starving. Battling is incredibly hard work. And to carry it out on an empty stomach will bring you into a state of exhausted delirium. And so when evening comes and Saul's curse expires, the Israelites, they jump on the Philistine cattle, they slaughter them on the ground without even properly field-dressing them, and they begin to eat them, blood and all. And you'll know that was something that God's law explicitly forbade. The life is in the blood, God says. It's off limits. But Saul has exhausted Israel's armies beyond the point of reason. They can't think straight anymore. And Saul scolds them, come on guys, what's come over you? How dare you act so faithlessly? He's blind. The sick irony in those words. What's come over you? What is this that you have done? And so he has a large stone brought up as a makeshift altar and tells them to bring their suppers over to be sacrificed before they're eaten. And the author all but tells us in verse 35, this was, you know, this was the first legitimate act of piety or devotion that Saul made during his entire reign. This was the first time. This was the first altar that he had built to the Lord. So he's cut his victory short. He has led Israel into temptation through his pride, but now he comes to his greatest failing of all, in this chapter anyway. And here Saul is shown to be absolutely blind to the things of the Lord. Israel's had their impromptu barbecue on the battlefield, and now that everyone's fed and ready to carry on, Saul says, all right now, let's keep after the Philistines. But the priest steps forward and says, hold on, hold on, shouldn't we ask God first? Shouldn't we find out if God wants us to keep fighting the Philistines? And so Saul asks his question. Lord, should we keep chasing them? And he waits for God to respond, but no favorable response comes. And Saul knows enough to know that some sinner in the camp has angered the Lord. And so he has the priest hunt him down, whoever his offender is, using the urim and the thumim. Strange words, perhaps, but basically a way of casting lots to receive direction from the Lord. And Jonathan is taken, and Saul challenges him, and he says, what have you done? And Jonathan says, well, I tasted a little honey, here I am, I will die. And Saul's raring and ready, Jonathan has crossed him, and Saul's centric sense of justice demands that his son die. But as people who have been going quite placidly along by this point, they've said, yeah, do whatever seems good in your eyes, do whatever seems good in your eyes, do whatever seems good to you. They now step in. Saul's being unreasonable. unreasonable, wicked, foolish. Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, not one hair from his head will fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day." And really, it's kind of a backhanded rebuke. How dare you, Saul? Jonathan is the one who saved Israel while you were dithering in your tent. He is on the Lord's side. While you were off frustrating the Lord's plans, Jonathan was working with the Lord. And so the people ransomed Jonathan so that he did not die. Now, you might be asking at this point, but hey, wasn't it wrong for Saul to back out of his oath? Well, no. No, it was wrong for him to make the oath in the first place. If you promise to sin, though, if you make a promise and you make an oath saying, I am binding myself to sin, you have an obligation not to keep that promise but to break that promise, because your responsibility before God to not sin is greater than your responsibility to yourself or to any other man. And in the midst of all this chaos, what happens? The Philistines escape. And Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place. You know, based on what we read from 1 Samuel about Paul's pattern of incomplete victories, and based on how we read in 2 Samuel about how David has to win all these victories again, this seems to be a bit of a pattern. Saul fights his enemies. Sure, he fought against all his enemies on every side. against Moab, against Ammon, against Edom, against Zobah and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them. He did valiantly. He struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered him. Yes, like in chapter 14, he routes Israel's enemies. He chases them out of Israelite territory. He establishes the borders, the boundaries, but he never really defeats them. He chases them out. But He never destroys their fortresses. He never brings true and lasting peace. His reign begins with war, it ends with war, and all His days are filled with war. But what about His family? Verses 49 through 51. The sons of Saul, the daughters of Saul, Saul's wife and uncle and father. Saul's family is listed here, but just like the genealogy of Esau in Genesis 36, this is a dead-end genealogy. Samuel had told Saul in the former chapter, your kingdom will not continue. Your throne will not be established. It will not go on from generation to generation. Yes, Saul has sons, but his sons die with him at the end of 1 Samuel on Mount Gilboa. He has daughters, but Michal dies childless, and Mirab's children are hanged by the Gibeonites in 2 Samuel 21. Like the family of Eli, Saul's family is left poor and desolate. And his might, final verse, verse 52, there was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he attached him to himself. His might is the might of a desperate man, the might of a merely mortal man. And the lyrics of chapter 2 and the lessons of chapter 14 go unheeded. The Lord doesn't build His kingdom with the strength of men. He builds it with little Jonathans and little Davids and little Christs, with these castoffs, these rejected stones that are precious nevertheless in His sight. And this is the way that God always builds His kingdom. Kingdoms that are built with the strength and the wisdom and the ingenuity of mortal men And they are doomed to die with the men who built them. Saul's kingdom is not going to outlast him. But you need to know that Satan's kingdom, Satan's kingdom founded on Satan's strength and wisdom and ingenuity and lies, it will not outlast him either. Saul gathered to him whatever strong men he could find, but Christ, our greater Jonathan, Christ has bound the strong man, Satan, and let me tell you, he is plundering his house. In chapter 13, we saw what happened to Israel's first king, Saul, when he was tested. Saul, like Adam, he condemns his people to death through his rebellion. But in chapter 14, don't we see the whole miserable episode reversed? Jonathan, like Christ, he brings his people to life once more. Like Jonathan, Christ set his face toward what should have been his doom, toward the unassailable fortress of Satan and his legions. Like Jonathan, Christ made weak, scattered his foes, not by a show of military might or tactical brilliance, but by entering into the land of death, into the fortress where Satan thought himself strong and unassailable. Like Jonathan. Christ considered the promises and counted Him faithful who made them, knowing that God would raise Him from the dead. Like Jonathan's victory, Christ's victory was accompanied by the shaking of the earth, prompting the fear of His enemies. And you remember from Good Friday what happened when Christ died and the earth shook, don't you? That strange, that strange little tidbit in Matthew's gospel. Saints rose from their graves, like Israel's soldiers emerged from theirs here. And they testified to his victory, like Israel's forces contribute to Jonathan's. Dear saints, the Son of God goes forth to war. He is waging a war that he has won, that he is winning, that he will win. Now, do not think yourself too weak to follow him. Do not think yourself too weak to follow Him, and if you think that you're strong enough to follow Him, I invite you to consider yourself weak. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Christ says we must come not as full-grown adults, not like mighty warriors, but we must come as little children. He invites the weak. In fact, His army is made up of none but the weak. Piety, like I said. Like the world mocks, piety is the last refuge of helpless men. You are helpless. You are helpless. Do not think that you are more than you are. You are helpless if you are not in Christ. Now come to Christ and follow Him. Stand up. Stand up for Jesus. Stand in His strength alone. The arm of flesh will fail you. You dare not trust your own. put on the gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer, where duty calls or danger be never wanting there." Let's pray.