All right, 1 Samuel chapter 20. 1 Samuel chapter 20 is where we're at, and we're at the life of David. And so where we are in the story, King Saul sought to get David at his house. Michael lied about him, said he was sick, and you know. Then Saul comes and sends his men in to take David in his bed, but David's not in his bed because he escaped out of that place. He went to Niath. And what we were focusing on the last several weeks is that David, as he fled from Saul, he sought God. And so in doing that, he went to the man of God, Samuel, was encouraged by him. Then he went to the place of a spiritual retreat, Nyoth, that school of the prophets, and there he was refreshed by God. Now Saul comes, tries to get him, but he sent his servants first of all, and his servants got there. And when they got there, the Spirit of God came upon them and they prophesied. And so they couldn't take David. He sends other servants. He does this three times. He sends servants to try to take David, but he can't because the Spirit of God comes upon them and they prophesy. And so then Saul goes himself, and we talked about how Saul is constantly pushing against God, and like the other man by his name, Saul of Tarsus, kicking against the pricks, kicking against the goads, yet he is determined that he's gonna have his way. in killing David. But David escapes from there because Saul gets there and he also prophesies as the Spirit of God comes upon him. So David leaves Niath, he goes to Jonathan, so here David is seeking a spiritual friend, and again he's seeking God as he does that, and praise God that he's got Jonathan. And so verse one, David gets to him and says, David fled from Niath, and Ramah came and said before Jonathan, what have I done? What's mine iniquity? What is my sin before thy father that he seeketh my life? And then Jonathan, as we talked about last week, this is the focus of what we looked at, is that Jonathan is blinded by his affection for his father. And so he doesn't see it. He said unto him, Jonathan said, God forbid thou shalt not die. Behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so. Okay, so Jonathan feels very strongly that David's misunderstood this because remember, Jonathan had gone to his dad and said, look, David is a good guy. He defeated Goliath. He's done all these good things. What are you doing? Seeking his life. And King Saul had stepped back and said, okay, I'm not gonna do this anymore. But he had misled his son in saying that. And so what we're gonna look at this morning is that David, seeks to convince Jonathan of his dad's murderous intent. Okay, he's gonna try to seek to convince him of that. And so he speaks to him of his father's knowledge of their affection, the fact that Jonathan and David have this good relationship. So here we are this morning, 1 Samuel 20, verse three. It says, and David swear moreover and said, thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes. Okay, yeah, I found grace in thine eyes. My wife and I's first date, well, the first time we met was my sister had accidentally invited both of us to eat with her. So I got there, I think it was a Monday for lunch and Katie's standing there and we're going to go inside and Katie went to go with us. And I said, oh, are you coming as well? And she said, yes, if I hadn't reminded your sister that we had planned lunch, she would have forgotten. And so the bad thing was my sister had failed her exams. And so every time I tried to ask Katie something, my sister would go, I can't believe I failed my exam. And every time, I can't believe I failed my exam. And so when we left, I said, Rachel, I'm sorry you failed your exam, but give a guy a chance, all right? I'm trying to talk to this girl. And then after that, Katie had a dating outing. She was vice president in her society. I think that was it, or secretary. And her sister was the president. And for the girls' dating outing, they would invite the guy to go with them. to ask anybody that had asked her out, unless they think she was serious about them or something like that, or to ask anybody. And so my sister called me and she said, you know, I've got this friend, she needs somebody to go on her dating out with. Dating outing with her, would you go? And I said, here am I, send me. And no, I said, that's fine. And she said, just as a friend, you know, nothing. And so we went, had the dating outing, had a great time. But I'll say this. I'm thankful that I found grace in her eyes, and that she found grace in my eyes. That means that I had affection for her, she had affection for me, and it all went very well, and praise God we still have that. So grace in thine eyes is like the king lowering the scepter to Queen Esther, King Ahasuerus, As she goes in, if he's got grace in his eyes for her, he lowers the scepter and she's okay and can talk to him about what is on her heart. It's the same there with Jonathan. Jonathan had a high position within the kingdom and he had affection for David. Now, David had a lot of troubled relationships in his life. David His elder brother, you remember, as he goes to fight Goliath, his elder brother looks at him and says, I know thy pride in the naughtiness of thine heart. Eliab, as an older brother, just was judgmental about David. So even there, you can see in the family, David kind of had some troubled relationships there. Now his father-in-law hates him. King Saul, he's married his daughter, Michael, and his father-in-law hates him. His wife, Michael, defends him by lying and then also lies about David's character and says, if I would have tried to keep him, he would have killed me, so I let him go. And so she wasn't really, it seems, a godly person. We're gonna see other things about Michael's life. We don't see in her what would really make a great friendship, even as a wife, for David. But in Jonathan, he's got a really close friend because Jonathan is godly. Jonathan is somebody that loves the Lord. And I just wanna remind us this morning, an obedient believer's closest friendships will be with those who are godly. Our closest friends are gonna be those that are like-minded in their love for God. Amos 3.3 says, can two walk together except they be agreed? How are you gonna have a close relationship with somebody unless you can agree with them? If you think about every relationship that you have, it's centered around something mutual, something that you have in common, something that you agree about. If it's family, you're brought together through that familial relationship, so you got that in common. So there's always gonna be something common that you're in agreement with somebody about. So the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And the yoke, you understand, was for the oxen, and you would pair them up equally so that they both be in that harness and pulling that together. And you'd never yoke, I guess, a donkey with an oxen or a dog with an oxen or something like that. It'd be very unequal. You yoke them together because they are in agreement with one another. And so what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And this is good for even what we're gonna consider this morning. And I think this topic's gonna be on my mind for a while. Kind of we talked about already this morning, the fact that the world has their views and we've got our views and those things don't, they don't get along together. They are polar opposites. They, like magnets that are opposite ends, they oppose each other. And so righteousness and unrighteousness can't go together. What communion hath light with darkness? You'll notice there's no darkness in this room. I mean, there's very little darkness that's here because the light dispels it. You can't put light and darkness together. It's not possible. In a Christian experience, it would be like this. If you are light and you get along with darkness, guess what? You're not light. It's not possible, right? Because you can't put light and darkness together. So either my light is going to offend the darkness, it's going to send the darkness away, or the darkness is going to envelop my light and put out my light. And so, what community hath light with darkness? What concord hath Christ with Belial? Can the Messiah and Satan, I mean, do they get on? Did they have a good relationship when Jesus was on earth? And was there agreement there, obviously, Not, what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Somebody that is against God, somebody that hates God. How can that person get on with somebody that is a believer? What agreement? Have the temple of God with idols. How can you put worship God and God alone with idolatry? Again, it's not possible. But then it says, for ye are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will dwell in them and walk in them. I'll be their God, they shall be my people. So the thing is, if I am a Christian, then I'm going to get on best with other Christians. I'm going to get on best with people that are like-minded, that really hold to the same position. That's why our church should be such a sweet family. That's why this should be a place of great camaraderie, great agreement, because there ought to be in our hearts that union behind Christ and union behind the truth of the word of God and agreement about what God says and what we believe and what we do and et cetera. So in David's life, David and Jonathan got on. They had a great friendship, why? Because they were the same. They had the same heart for God. They had the same passion for God. The strength of their friendship was their, we would say in our terminology, their Christianity. The fact that they both loved and honored God and desired to serve God and were champions for God. And so I ask us this morning, who finds grace in your eyes? You know, I think about your closest companions, your closest friendships. Who finds grace in your eyes, that finds favor in your eyes? And then the question would be, do they also find favor in God's eyes? Is that somebody that God approves of, that God looks at and says, that is a godly person? That's certainly the way it should be. That's the way it was here in the story. The strength of their friendship was their love for God. And then as he speaks to him, David speaks to him of his father's, Saul's, desire to kill him, David. David speaks to Jonathan about his father's desire to kill him. So he says, this is what your dad says, let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. He's gonna be troubled by this, so I don't wanna let him know about it. Know what, in verse one is what he's speaking about, that your father is seeking to take my life. Now, again, another strong thing about friendship is trust. Right? A friendship is based on trust. David has an incredible trust in King Saul's son. Does he not? I mean, this is Jonathan. This is the son of the king. If Jonathan was at all of the mind of King Saul, then what's the danger to David? his death, right? I mean, so look at the faith of David. He's coming to the son of the king, a close personal relationship with the king, but he's not afraid to be there, to speak to him because of the trust that he has in his friend. You know, praise God for godly friends that you know are gonna stand with you in difficulty, you know, no matter what, that they're gonna be there to help you. Proverbs 18. Verse 24 says, there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Okay, the ultimate friend that sticketh closer than a brother is who? Jesus Christ. And we understand that that verse certainly has reference to the Messiah, that there is a friend that loves us more than any earthly brother ever loved us and sticks closer to us than any brother. But that truth, there is a friend that sticketh closer to a brother ought to be a truth that a believer personifies as well, right? It ought to be something that is seen in our life that we have that kind of strength in our friendships. You know, I've got some friends that are like brothers to me. They're in the ministry, and we're in the same vocation, the same calling, and we communicate. They're guys that encourage my heart. Don Dillman's one of those guys. He's come over here sometimes, and a lot of our church has gotten to know Brother Don, but we've been ministering together. For 12 years, every week, you know, getting together, serving God together. We've got a close friendship. Les Hill in Ireland, he just got back six months in the States. His father-in-law passed away. His mother-in-law has dementia. They just got her into a care home on Monday this past week and flew back. But very close friendship. And I've already talked to Les. I said, hey, I wanna do a day of prayer coming up. I wanna come over and do that. He said, we'll do it. And Lord willing, we're gonna schedule that in the near future. But it's great to have guys like that. Frank Maetta in Italy is another one. Loves God, faithfully serving God. And these are guys that I communicate with that encourage me and the Lord. I encourage them and the Lord. And again, they're ones that would stand with you in time of testing and times of trouble. You know, praise God again for godly friends. And praise God, let me say this, somebody that is like that might be somebody in our church that has unsafe family. Unsafe family that would totally disagree with the position that our church takes or position that the that a believer holds to. But praise God for godly people in our church that will take that stand despite what their family says, despite what their family thinks. They're gonna honor God and they're gonna please God. And so again, that's like Jonathan here. He's gonna stand, even though his family's totally opposed to the position that he's gonna take, he's gonna stand with David, his brother. We'd say in Christ, but obviously Old Testament. And so he speaks to him of his father's desire to kill him. And then David with an oath declares that Jonathan is wrong in his conception of what he thinks about his dad. So he's trying to convince him, he's telling him that your dad just hasn't told you this because he doesn't want you to be sad about it. But now he says, but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there's but one step between me and death. And David takes two of the greatest realities that Jonathan knew, and he uses them as an oath. The fact that God is alive and Jonathan is alive, and those are things that Jonathan could easily perceive, he says with an oath, your dad is seeking to take my life. Now, generally speaking, we ought not use oaths. That ought not be something that we do. The Bible says, let your yea be yea and your nay, nay. In other words, you ought to be a person of your word. If you say it, you ought to mean it. It ought to follow through, all right? I mean, that just ought to be the way it is. When somebody speaks to you, they know that you're telling the truth. Now, I've had, and if you use this terminology, it's not sin to use this terminology, but I would say stay away And I'll probably say it later on today at some point, but stay away from the phrase, honestly, honestly, or to tell you the truth. And those statements, I'll just say, somebody comes to my mind when I hear those statements, honestly, to tell you the truth, pastor, somebody comes to my mind very quickly that just constantly would say that to me. And what I would say about that person is that they were a liar. And so they would have to try to convince you by saying, you know, really I am telling the truth this time when I'm speaking to you. That ought not be the way it is. People ought to expect that if we say something, that's what it means. So we ought to stay away from. I swear by anything about God that I'm telling the truth because we ought to just be a person of our word. Now, David's doing this because Jonathan has pushed him to the point where David's like, I've got to convince you. So I swear by the two greatest realities that Jonathan knew. First of all, that he was alive. Secondly, that God was alive. And I want to look at that truth that God is alive because I think it's the greatest of all truths. when you stop and think about it. The fact that there is a living God. And I want to give you some scripture that maybe just encourage your heart about the living God. Job 19 verse 25. It says, for I know, I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Okay, Job prophetically is speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He's speaking prophetically about his resurrection. In fact, I mean, it doesn't speak about his death, but my Redeemer liveth and the Redeemer is the one that would pay for our sins, but, and that, he shall stand at the latter days upon the earth. You know, praise God. We're looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we talked about Sunday night, it's not gonna get better, but then it will. Because that's the truth. The world is not gonna get better, but then it will. Because why? Jesus Christ is gonna reign for a thousand years upon this earth. And prophetically, Job is looking ahead to that, that the living Lord Jesus Christ is not just gonna come, he's gonna reign. The disciples expected that. They ask, when are you gonna set up your kingdom? That's not for you to know. The times are the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power, right? But that is a coming season. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. It's gonna happen. And he says, though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. He had hope of that resurrection and who he hoped to see, and it's a true hope. We'll talk about it in the morning service. but he hoped to see the living God someday, that he'd stand face to face with that living God. Deuteronomy 5.26, for who is there of all flesh that I've heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire as we haven't lived. And it's talking about Mount Sinai. And Moses is saying to the people, look, we are privileged that God, the living God spoke to us upon that Mount. Joshua 3.10, Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, Jebusites, and it goes on to say, or it says in Deuteronomy, the seven nations that are greater and mightier than you, they're going to drive them out. Why? Because you got the living God. and you're gonna know his presence among you. When he does that, listen, our church gets to experience the living God as we see God do things for us. And we've seen a lot of things. We continue to see a lot of things. And as a friend of mine wrote this week, the best is yet ahead. The story to come is even greater because God is a good God and we serve the living God. And so, 1 Samuel 17, 26, David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, this is the fight against Goliath, what shall be done to the man that killeth the Philistine? Take it away the reproach from Israel, for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? Again, David's theology was God is alive. I think it's the greatest central truth that there is, that there is a living God. Psalm 42 too, my soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Psalm 84 verse 2, my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. You know, aren't you thankful today that when you pray, you pray to the living God? a God that is a person, a God that is aware, a God that is present, a God that cares, all because, again, he is the living God. It says in Isaiah 37, verse four, as Hezekiah cried out to God, and Isaiah, I think, with him, cried out to God about the letter of Rabshakeh, that he brought saying, you know, you got to surrender and God's not going to help you. God doesn't care about you. The gods of Egypt were nothing. So is your God nothing and mock them at the walls. By the way, Rabshakeh was from Assyria. Remember last week I preached on Nahum chapter one. And it was Nahum's message to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria. You know, in that letter, it references man, Rabshakeh, and I'll give you the reference in just a second. But as he's going to prayer, he says, it may be that the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, hath sent to reproach the living God. and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore, lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. Now to go to Nahum chapter one in our text last week, and I didn't reference this, but there in verse 11, it speaks about Rabshakeh's threat, and this is what it says. There is one come out of thee that imagineth evil against the Lord. And we know from Isaiah, the living God. a wicked counselor. Thus saith the Lord, though they be quiet and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. For now will I break his yoke from off thee and will burst thy bonds asunder. So God is gonna, we talked about last week, the Assyrians were used of God as an affliction to Israel, but it was gonna be no more because God was gonna judge them. And who is the God that would judge them? And I just wanna emphasize he's the living God. He's a God that was aware that they were mocking his people and were everything wicked that we talked about last week about them. And so the living God heard it and took note. Now, I believe David, as he references the living God, is letting us see a little bit into his heart that that was a point of meditation in his heart. He's running from Saul, but God's aware. God knows what's going on. The living God is present. The living God is able to help. The living God knows our need. You know, this morning, praise God that we've got a living God. We knocked on a door yesterday, had a great witnessing opportunity with a Catholic man. His wife is an idolater. And I said, you know, this house here in the block with which it's made, that's no different from an idol. That's it. It's just mortar. It's just stone. It's just wood. It's just metal. But not for us. We serve a resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. Our God is alive. It's a central truth to everything good that God is to us. the fact that he is alive. I serve a risen savior. He's in the world today. I know that he is living. Whatever man may say, I see his hand of mercy, I hear his voice of cheer, and just the time I need him, he's always near. He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me. Along life's narrow way, he lives, he lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know he lives. He lives within my heart. You and I, because God lives, experience God, all right? We talk to people about our God. It's not a theory. It's an experience because God's alive. And so again, David references a core truth about God, that God is alive. Now, Jonathan asks, David what he wants him to do. He's wondering, you know, what's, okay, what's the plan? So whatever David desires, Jonathan is willing to do. And so verse four then said, Jonathan unto David, whatever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. Now, did Jonathan know what David's going to say? What if David say, overthrow the king? You know, let's get King Saul out of here. God's anointed me. Let's do that. No, David's not going to do that. But notice what Jonathan says. Jonathan says, I implicitly trust you, David. Whatever you desire to do, let's do that. That's fine. And now again, I just point out the godliness of the man, David, that Jonathan could look at him and say, okay, David, whatever you desire, we'll do that. You know, David, again, must have demonstrated a great likeness to his Lord, the fact that he was somebody that you can implicitly trust. Mary, at the wedding feast in Canaan, when there wasn't enough wine, she says to Jesus, they don't have wine, and desires him to make that, and she makes a statement of implicit trust in the Lord. John 2, verse 1. The third day, there was a marriage in Canaan of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, woman, what if I do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother said unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Implicit trust in the Lord. And what a great statement to say to those servants. And we ought to apply this to our life. Whatever he sayeth to you, do it. Whatever God says ought to be done. You know, Paul was able to say to the Corinthians to follow him as he followed the Lord. 1 Corinthians 11 verse one, be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. That's a strong statement, be followers of me. Jonathan could look at David and say, David, I can follow you because I know you're following the Lord. Whatever you want to do, we're going to do that. Paul was able to say, I am a follower of Christ, therefore follow me as I follow Christ. Can you say to others today, follow me as I follow Christ? And does our life back that up? If somebody's following sports, you know it by their life, don't you? What they talk about, how they dress, where they go. It's evident that they're following that sport. Listen, does our life demonstrate Christ in that way? That we could say to somebody, the way I dress, the way I look, where I go, what I say. It's about God, so they know that you're a God follower, so that they desire to follow you as you follow God. Ephesians 5 verse 1, be therefore followers of God as your children. We ought to be somebody that's walking after God. If that's the case, walk in love as Christ also hath loved us. He gave himself an offering, a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling saber. There ought to be that demonstration. of Christ honoring love. They ought to be set apart from sin because it says, but fornication and all and cleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as become a saint. So if somebody's a follower, a God follower, then their life ought to back that up so that people look at them and there's not a very evident sin that's in their life and a great contradiction to what they claim in Christ, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. What we say ought to demonstrate that I'm a God follower, and that I'm following Christ. And so can I say that to somebody? Follow me, as they follow Christ. If they followed Jesus, think about it this way, if they followed you, would they be a strong Christian? Would they be somebody that's really godly if they followed you? I mean, is your walk, is it sufficient to really honor God and to encourage people to follow God? And then, can you say to God, whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. Whatever you want, I'm gonna do that. You know, Naaman the leper, when he, with a little servant girl that said to her mistress there in Syria, would to God that the prophet in Israel was here because he could heal my master of that disease. She was a God follower. And so Naaman, It goes to be healed. We know the story But verse 9 of 2 Kings chapter 5 so Naaman came with his horses with his chariots stood at the door of the house of Elisha and Elisha sent a messenger unto him saying go and wash in Jordan seven times and thy flesh shall come again upon to thee, and thou shalt be clean. It's just a very simple command of God, is it not? I mean, what a picture of the gospel, the simple plan of salvation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. And there's a lot of people that have a great need, and God says, hey, I'm willing to meet your need, but the thing is, just like Naaman, as you know the story, there's hesitation to follow God and the simple plan that God has. And so Naaman was angry at that. He went away and he said, behold, I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord is God, strike his hand over the place and recover the leper. And there's a lot of people that want fireworks in a church service. And let me say this, even as believers, we can kind of be like that. God, if you'll just kind of put lightning out there about something in my life, then God, I'll respond. But a lot of times, I guess it could be like what Elisha experienced, and that is a still small voice of God just saying, you know what, that needs to change in your life. That's the way of obedience, is to follow that path. As simple as somebody getting the gospel and saying, you know what, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But they want the fireworks, they want the big thing, they want great conviction from God, and if that's not present, they're not really gonna respond to that. And so, he's arguing against it. Are not Abana and Farpar rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean, so eternity went away in a rage. And his servants came near, spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? You know, if God said, go on a pilgrimage, get on your knees, you know, walk so far on your knees and do all these things. There's a lot of people that are ready to follow God religiously. We know this, that Islam and Catholics, they are dedicated to God and they are faithful to God. And I mean, they are there, Ramadan and other things. They'll do a lot of things to try to seek God. Really, to be honest, they put a lot of us as believers to shame because we serve the living God, they serve a God that is made up, but they're willing to do great things for God, but they won't do the simple thing of believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And just put their faith in God. And I think we could be the same way as believers. If I could do something great for God, I'd do that. But if it's something small or insignificant, maybe just being faithful to God, maybe I'm not there yet. And I think that could be kind of part of our heart too. We want kind of the great things instead of just those simple things for God. And so a servant comes nearer, said unto my father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, wash and be clean? All right, just do the simple thing. Then went he down, he dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God, and his flesh came again, like unto the flesh of the little child, and he was clean. And again, it's just that simple statement, God, okay, whatever you want, I'll do. That would be a great thing today. What a church we have and will have if in our hearts we can honestly come to God and say, okay, God, whatever you want, God, I will follow you. And so praise God for that implicit trust that David was, or Jonathan was able to put in David because David followed Christ. Can people do that with you? Can they follow you like that? And so praise God for godly friends like this that stand with us and encourage us. And God help us to be those that can say, follow me as I follow Christ. And to be that kind of godly friend. Because that's the strength of a godly friendship. It's that righteousness and truth. And we ought to find our strongest friendships in our church. And so praise God for that truth. May the spirit of God bless into our hearts this morning. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the word of God. Thank you for Jonathan. And David, and what we can learn about their life as we consider the truth of what's taking place in the story. And Father, we thank you that David knew that the core reality that Jonathan would understand is that there is a living God. There is a living God. And Father, we thank you for the strength of their friendship that was centered in trust and righteousness. And Father, that's going to be the strength of our friendships as well, but we ought to be somebody that is following God. And Father, you ought not have to do great things in our life. You ought to just be able to say simple things to us that we get, that we understand. We ought to respond and say, okay, you know, I need to change that. And Lord, I praise you for what we can learn from these lies. May the Spirit of God bless the Word of God to our hearts this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.