Thank God he is faithful to himself. And because he is, when we're unfaithful, he continues to do what he always promised he would do, amen? And we can rejoice in that. Remember what David said, what the Lord told David? Go to chapter seven of 2 Samuel. There's a few things he mentions in here. And when I read it, this is this covenant that God had established. And when he told David what he was gonna do, When David wanted to do something for the Lord, God said, wait a minute, has there ever been a time that I asked anybody to build anything, a house for me? He said, David, I'm gonna do something for you. And what I do for you is gonna be permanent. It's gonna be more than just a house, it's gonna be a legacy. And he says this in verse number, let's start in verse number 22. I'm just gonna focus in on A few words that he uses in here. We are in this, this is talking about us. This is also talking about us, because it's talking about down the road, future generations to come. But verse 22 says, therefore you are great, oh Lord God, for there is none like you. And that is a great amen. That's what makes God holy. Not that it makes him holy. He is holy, but that's a description of his holiness, that there is no one like him. Nor is there any God beside you according to all that we have heard with our ears. Now watch what verse 23 says. And who is like your people? You see, when you are connected to a holy God and a holy God makes you holy, unique, there's no one on the earth like you. like us, the people of God. And that day it would have been Israel who is his remnant, his seed, and who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for who? What's verse 23 say? He redeemed for? And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for a people to himself as a people to make, look, to make for himself a name and to do for yourself great and awesome deeds for your land before your people whom you redeem for yourself from Egypt, from the nations and from their gods. Notice those phrases in there, for himself. For himself, for yourself, for yourself. That's God being faithful to himself. And because God is faithful to himself, that is why he is so faithful to us that belong to him. What is that Psalm that David wrote, Psalm 23? How does it start off? For the Lord is my? I shall not. He leadeth me in passive righteousness for what? His name's sake. Notice what David says here. What God did, he redeemed them, he called them, he made them, he blessed them for himself. For himself. for himself as a people, to make for himself a name and to do for yourself great and awesome deeds for your land before your people whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, from the nations and from their gods. From Egypt, from the nations and their God. God has redeemed us from all our adversaries and all our enemies. He's delivered us from something, but he always delivers us what? to something. Or we can say, as this passage even reveals to us in the rest of the scriptures, not only does He deliver us from something to deliver us to something, but He delivers us to someone. He delivers us to Himself. He delivers us to His Son for Himself. Look in Psalm 23. Let's just read the Psalm. Go to Psalm 23. have this particular passage in mind when David writes this. Because this is the summation of our shepherd. And this commitment that he made when David said, remember he came and said he wanted to build a house, he told Nathan the prophet. And what did Nathan tell him to do? Go ahead and build it. Go ahead and build it. Whatever is in your heart to do, you go do it. But God intervened that night, didn't he? He came to Nathan that night and said, go tell David, go ask David this, have I asked him to build me anything? I know he wants to build me something, but I'm gonna do something for him. His son's gonna build something, but you go let him know that I hear what he wants to do I didn't ask him to do it, but I hear it, but let me tell him what I'm gonna do for him. And then David then responds in what we read, and this is what he says in Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down where? In green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He what? Restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. Isn't that exactly what David was saying? You redeemed me, you made me, you chose me, you placed me, you've done all this for your namesake. for your namesake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. He told David that when your sons down the road go backslidden and waver, I'm gonna use the rod to correct them. Because of why? I love them for my namesake. Verse five, you prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup just run, slap over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Why? Because of what God's doing. Not because of what David could do for God, but what God was gonna do for David as his shepherd. And that's what that whole picture of 2 Samuel chapter seven is all about, and that's why David continues to bring that up. I heard you, Lord, I hear you. Who am I that you would choose somebody like me? I can't see why you would use me, but you using me is just a small thing in your sight. It's a simple thing for you to do something with me. And you did it for your name's sake, for your glory. What a revelation that we have that all the past and all the present that David is going through and what's gonna happen in the future is gonna be based off of what we read in chapter seven of God's revelation to him of 2 Samuel chapter seven. Just what a great word. Go back to 2 Samuel 7 and look in verse number 18 how David responded to this message that Nathan conveyed unto David by way of the Lord. David responded in verse number 18 of 2 Samuel 7 says, then the king went and sat before the Lord And he said, who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house that you have brought me this far? That you've brought me to this place. And yet, this was a small thing in your sight, O Lord God. and you have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come. You sure is this the manner of man that you want to use, O Lord God?" That's just that humility of recognizing who he was, what God's done with him, and how it was a simple thing for God to do it. and using a person like himself. But just great, great truths. Look in verse number 12. Look in verse number 12 of the same chapter, chapter seven. When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, what did God promise? I will set up your offspring after you. You know who's in that offspring? Who? Solomon, Nathan, and both Solomon and Nathan are in that lineage of who? Solomon on the legal side with Joseph, but Nathan on the physical side with Mary. So we're talking about Jesus. And Brother Shannon, the scriptures teach me that I'm hidden in Christ Jesus. So you know who he's talking about? He's talking about me here. He's talking about me in Christ in this passage, prophetically speaking of what God will, I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. Of course, the beginning of that is with Solomon, his house, he shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. How could he do it forever? because there's going to come a king who's going to reign in righteousness and his name is Jesus. Verse 14, I will be Solomon's father and he shall be my son. Notice what he says here. If he commits iniquity and he's gonna, what has God promised to do? I will chase in him. What I'm going to chasing him with. the rod of men and with the blows of the son of men. Isn't that what David said? For your rod and your staff do what? They comfort me. Why? Because they remind me of God's love. They remind me of God's promise. Notice what verse 15 says. Even though I use the rod of men and the blows of the son of men, verse 15, but my mercy shall not depart from him. It's an everlasting mercy. Even when he goes astray, even when Solomon does what he does, even when the future kings do what they do, in that line, God said, I'm not gonna take my mercy away. That's why David responded the way that he did. He said, God, you brought me thus far, but you sure you're dealing with the right guy here? And then the revelation is, well, God could do what he wants to do, amen. and he does it for himself. And as a result, he is faithful when we are not faithful. And when we are not faithful, he is faithful to do what he promised to do when we're unfaithful. He's promised of what he's gonna do. And you can count on him. These things just continue to build faith in his trustworthiness because we have testimony after testimony written writ of God that has proven his faithfulness through the years of just how trustworthy he is to do what he's done. Amen? Yes. That's right, he's gonna use nations, he's gonna use people as the means to chastise them when they go astray, when they go wayward. And we see God doing that, that God is, he's faithful to do it. He did it previous with his people. Remember when we was reading through Judges, every time they would go astray because of his faithfulness to who? He's reaffirming what he's already promised to who. Abraham. He promised Abraham, but what he's going to do here, he's already promised that. And then he reaffirmed what he promised to Abraham, to Abraham's son, who was his son? Isaac. And then Isaac had two sons. And one of those sons names was what? Jacob. And he promised again, he reaffirmed the covenant to Jacob, changed his name to Israel. And then Israel had what? 12 sons and of those 12 sons, there was one particular son that he chose within that before time ever began, he chose that seed to come through Judah and this is where David shows up in the seed of Judah. So this is God reaffirming again and again of his trustworthiness and of his faithfulness to do what he promised a long time ago. And the picture of it, we see it here. This is why all this is so rich. We've talked about it on quite a few occasions, but remember that agreement that Jonathan and David made? And they made it several times and reaffirmed one another. Jonathan said, I need you to take care of and bless my family down the road. And David promised him that he would. And then he asked the question, we find it in chapter nine when he says, is there any descendants of Saul left that I can show the mercy, the kindness of God to? And somebody says, yeah, there's a boy, Mephibosheth. He's lame in his feet, but he's down and low to bar. And David said, go fetch him. Go get him and bring him to me. Well, this boy is no longer a boy anymore. He's a man who has a child himself. And David says, I'm gonna show you the kindness of God for Jonathan's sake. See, that's a picture of what God's done See, Jonathan loved his son that he had. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And his son made an agreement with his father before time ever began that he would lay his life down and show God's kindness to a group of people who wasn't looking for him. who was in hiding, hostile on the run because at that time, Mephibosheth didn't want anybody to know that he was alive. Why? His life would be threatened if he was known to be alive. The heir to the throne of his grandfather Saul. So he's on the run. He was, he had no idea David would do what he did. He didn't know of the agreement that his father had with David. Just like when I was living lame in my feet and couldn't walk with God and on the run doing my thing and an enemy to the things of God, I didn't know the agreement that the Lord Jesus and his father made before time ever began that he would show the kindness of God to me. And Jesus come found me and offered me access to him. offered me access to his table, offered me access to what my father lost in death, Adam, he restored that inheritance to him. That's all that he did. We see that in chapter nine. That is one of the most beautiful pictures of redemption of David and Mephibosheth based on a covenant between David and Mephibosheth's father, just like Jesus and his father blessing us with the eternal grace of God in Christ Jesus before time ever began. That he says, I'll bring you into my family. You will be just like one of my sons. You will have access to my table. I'm going to restore your inheritance unto you. And a matter of fact, I'm going to restore all that land. You're going to have something to harvest now. You're going to have fields to go out in and harvest. And that's exactly what he did. And Mephibosheth stayed loyal. But then the guys that were serving Mephibosheth, we're gonna find out coming up, that guy Ziba. What does he do? He's gonna betray Mephibosheth and say Mephibosheth lined himself up with Absalom when he didn't. And David hastily listened to Ziba when Mephibosheth didn't line himself up with. So there's a lot of pictures that we see all through how the enemy a lie. The enemy a lie. The enemy can't tell no truth, amen? Scripture says that there's no truth in Satan whatsoever, none. No truth in him whatsoever. He's a liar, a deceiver, a murderer from the beginning. And he's always out for himself. Another picture here, just something to throw out. We talked a little bit about it Sunday night. Remember we talked about Ahithophel, how he was the grandfather of Bathsheba. And how his son and his, Granddaughter's husband were mighty men that fought for David. Well, he also, there was another boy. Amiel had a son, Bathsheba's brother, and he's the guy, Mekir, who was actually housing Mephibosheth. That's a family relation there. So it's just when you start putting all these things together and you realize even after Hithophel is gonna rebel against David with Absalom in the next two days you're reading, you're gonna see it. His grandson Mechir is actually gonna line himself up with David even though his grandfather went against David. He's kind of like a Barnabas of the Old Testament. He took care of the underdog like Mephibosheth. He housed and took care of him. He was the underdog. When all the nation starts following after Absalom and you have David, he's gonna line himself up to take care and bring supplies to David. Very similar to Barnabas in the New Testament. He was a son of encouragement. He was with Paul and he wanted John Mark with him and he encouraged him. And then when Paul said, no, he can't come, he left Paul and took John Mark under his wing and walked with him. Makir seems like a very similar type guy, but that was Bathsheba's brother. Bathsheba's brother. So it's all just a neat picture when you start really looking in of the family dynamics and how all this played out. And you're looking at Jonadab and Amnon and Absalom and Tamar, and you see these things, they're just great pictures. There's a lot to learn, but there's a lot that we can glean every time we go through it. But think about it, pity is not, your friend. It's not your friend. It's not your friend. Just recognize that. I pray that'll help you in the days ahead, because pity's gonna show up, knock at your door. It's gonna show up, and it's gonna ask, what's wrong with you? Tell me. And boy, it's gonna fuel your folly. It's gonna feed your flesh. It's gonna fan the flame. But when you take the nosedive down, pity's gonna move on to the next person. Tremendous, tremendous principles and truths. Amen. Father, thank you tonight. I ask you to bless this time we've had together. Help us, help us, help us in our daily walk. In Jesus' name, amen. Love y'all. Y'all have a good night.