He's thinking like a natural man. He wants to know what family he's from. That's what mattered to Saul. Then as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistines, verse 57, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. I mean, he's got that big noggin in his hand, carrying it to him. 58, and Saul said to him, he's still what? Wanting to know who's your daddy. Whose son are you, young man? So David answered, I am the son of who? I'm the son of your servant, Jesse the Bethlehemite. What do you see with David? A man that trusted God, a man that honored God, a man that honored his father, but a man that's also honoring the king who he's standing before. the whole time. Here's a young man that keeps genuine, genuine humility, nothing less of who he is, but less about who, everything's about what? The glory of God, blessing God's people, magnifying and being a servant of the King. Watch what verse number one of 18 says. This is this connection to Jonathan. Now when David had finished speaking the Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit, bound, tied to the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Not after getting to know him, not after getting to find out more about him. It was just one of those fondness and loves for the person regardless of his background, regardless of who his daddy was, regardless of any of those things. You follow with me. He just loved him. His soul was knit to him. Here's this young man who just conquered the enemy And when he heard him speak in the scripture says that his soul was bound to him. Now watch what he does though. Verse three, then Jonathan and David made a what? A covenant. A covenant of blood because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan, notice this, Jonathan took off his robe that was on him, gave it to David with his armor, even to his sword and bow and his belt. You know what that's a picture of? Jonathan, 20 plus years older. who so loved this man with a pure unadulterated love and loyal to him, surrendered the future of his reign over the kingdom into the hands of this young man. Just in a supernatural way. Even though at that point in time, it hadn't been made known to neither Saul nor Jonathan, as far as from Samuel or anybody else's perspective, that you're looking at the future king of Israel here. And Jonathan said, I would rather serve David as king over Israel than that be passed down to me. He's going to be the rightful king. He yielded everything to him. And that's the picture of us when it comes to Jesus, who routed a great victory for us over sin, the enemy, at the cross. And we don't have to know everything there is to know about Him. But you what? Supernaturally, you love Him, amen? And you what? Surrender your reign over your own life, you turn it over to Him. That's the picture of this covenant love of laying it down at the feet of the rightful authority over your life. All right, all right. Let's get in it. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 1. Let's jump back in where we were at this morning. We may look at a couple things that will go along with it as we normally try to do. There's so many backstories to every step that we're walking through. these truths right here. We want to remember in our flesh there is no good thing. As with this Amalekite, there was nothing good in him. I mentioned a couple places this morning, for an example, out of Exodus 17 and Deuteronomy 25, what God had said in reference to the Amalekites, and Amalekites is how I think they would pronounce that. And some of the people use, say proper names a little bit different. Some say Amalekite, but I think, Something I looked up was amalekite is how they used that phrase there. But we said this passage or this chapter started off real fast with just a lot of ugliness in the sense that we come to it. It talked about after the death of Saul. Remember, it's introducing us to this. David don't even know it at the moment that King Saul had passed away. If you look over in 1 Samuel 31, it gives us the story. of what actually took place. And the reason I say that is because the Bible is giving us an accurate account of what took place when this Amalekite came and shared his version of the story to David. But his version of the story to David that the Bible records was a false story. So we have to discern that just because the story is told There will be people who take it so literal and then try to turn around and misuse it to say that the Bible contradicts itself. And of course it doesn't. Or they will turn around and say that, well, you then can't trust the Bible. And that's definitely not the case. The Bible accurately describes what people do, but just because it describes what people do and have said doesn't mean what they do and say is true. Now the Bible records the truth, and the Bible records it accurately, but not everything that everybody says in the Bible is true. You take like those friends of Job, for an example. We talked about that in times past, how they kept hounding Job, that Job, you had to do something. God doesn't do what he did and what's going on in your life unless you've done something. and they just kept hammering and hammering him and all their counsel that they kept giving him, you want to measure it by the rest of the word of God, like we do everything. Why? Because God says the counsel that these guys gave Job was dark. God wasn't involved in it. So even though it's in the Bible, as it is chapter by chapter of their dialogue with Job, You can't take it as if it is the breath of God, though the Bible is the breath of God because it's given us an accurate account what they said, but what they said is not to be put in place as they said it, if that makes sense to you. That's hard sometimes to wrap your mind around when you want to stand on the integrity of the word. We just become discerners. We want to be wise and ask God to give us the ability to comprehend. It's like Satan, for an example. The scriptures tell us about, what about Satan? That everything the Bible says about Satan is true, and every situation we see him at work is a fact, but the scripture says Satan is what? A liar. So if he speaks, what is he gonna be speaking? Lies. He's the father of lies. He's a murderer, a deceiver, deceptive, and anybody operating under his guidance is gonna be doing the exact same thing. So we then interpret it from that perspective. And that just goes back to looking at the word in the right kind of way. So 1 Samuel 31 gives us the accurate account of what took place when Saul died. This is also gonna be found in 1 Chronicles. So we have, it's doubled up. Another thing to keep in mind is that 1 and 2 Samuel was one book in the older Testament that the Hebrews carried and had and was their Bible, it was a part of of Kings and it was one book. It didn't break it down in two parts. And as we even open up in the chapter number one of 2 Samuel, you can tell that there's really no break from what we have in chapter 31. But he says in let's say verse number three, let's just start there. So we're 1 Samuel 31, three, the battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him and he was severely wounded by the archers. Now that's another thing just to take note of. Notice you got Israel fighting the Philistines. You got a whole army of people fighting. You've got generals, captains, but notice how the scriptures refers to that the battle against Saul was fierce. Now the battle was against the whole nation. But Saul's the king of the nation. So it all falls on him. Their attack was upon him. That's who they wanted. They wanted him. And the archers hit him and he was severely wounded by the archers. Verse four. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, a trusted, a trusted man, that he could depend on, draw your sword and thrust me through with it for fear these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me. Now, anytime you see the word uncircumcised, you always have to go back to the fact that they're talking about people who are not in a covenant relationship with God. That's the idea. We're talking about the heathen who have not been brought into a relationship. They're outside the promises of God. They're outside of the blessings of God. They're outside of the purposes of God from that perspective. And we're talking about the rest of the world that didn't belong to the people of God, the Jews in that day. And even Saul recognized in his natural condition, because we said this morning that Saul was a natural man who God did a work in, but then Saul kept reverting back to his natural way. And he lived predominantly as a natural man with natural instincts and natural thoughts in his pursuit of David. And David became so consuming to him, even though he knew God was on David, he still pursued David. And the Bible is clear on that. He knew God was with David and he still went after him. Really saying that that God don't know what he's doing in doing what he's doing with David in Essence and he was willing to go to that great extreme It becomes so personable to him that he was willing to sacrifice everything To kill David. He did not want David to to take over the kingdom of God. He didn't want David to have his place in Israel and he'd do whatever he took to keep that from happening. Here's a natural man. Now here's the thing, because God did do a work in him and he did give him a new heart and he did give him a new spirit, but he's leaning on the natural world rather than the supernatural world, all that he does is gonna be a mistake. Everything he does is going to be a mistake. He's going to be a constant mistake. And he's going to get further and further and further away because he's operating in a realm that he no longer has authority to operate in. And when we as believers, new creatures in Christ, function in our flesh, it only creates more and more trouble for us in our lives. And that's just something that we want to recognize in his light. Well, the scripture says, he though in this moment, he drew out these covenant promises. These uncircumcised men would thrust me through. But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly what? Now, what did we talk about this morning? That David asked that Amalekite, was you not afraid to put your hand to touch the anointing? So here's the picture here of this spiritual supernatural work at work. They recognize the uncircumcised, the uncovenant people. And they also recognize, well, this man's got an anointing on his life and I'm not going to be the one. It won't be recorded in history that I'm the one that killed him. It can't happen that way. I'll die before that happens. I'm not killing the man. No matter what kind of misery he's in, no matter what he's going through, no matter the next step in this, we're going to depend on God to kill him before I kill him. Are you with me? That's the idea. Therefore, what did Saul do? He took a sword and he fell on it himself. He fell on it himself. No man took his life, he what? He died himself. He took it himself. Verse five. And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he was dead. He also fell on his sword and he died what? Okay, that's the biblical record that we have. Chronicles says just the same, the same thing. Verse six, so Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together that same day. Now, when you get into 2 Samuel chapter 1, we have another account of this from the perspective of a natural man that can't see supernatural things, who's looking at everything in the natural and how he can capitalize on the death of this man because in his mind, he's thinking the best news David could ever get was news that Saul was dead. And not only that, but I'm gonna bring his crown to him and I'm gonna bring something to identify the fact that this man has died that I've taken it right off his wrist and that he was not willing to die himself or to I put him out of his misery I showed him mercy and put him out of his misery but David quickly turned it and said, look, something ain't right with you here. I don't believe the story that you just told me, but you did confess with your own mouth that you killed the anointing. And therefore your blood is what on your own head. So we just got to remember that the flesh is always, always, always deceptive, a deceptive enemy, no matter how you look at it. The Amalekite is a representation of a man in a natural world, full of himself, full of the flesh, and it's always deceptive. As Paul would say in Romans 7, there is no good thing in my flesh. Yours, brother Shannon, or mine. From a natural side, there's no good thing in us whatsoever. So, what do we see? We see how the flesh will be false in its humility. Right? What did the boy do? Look in verse 2. On the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So it was when he came to David that he fell on the ground and prostrated himself. False humility. He was saying that he was as grieved if anybody else would be grieved. He rent his clothes and he put dust on his head as if he's been in mourning. And then what did he do before David? As we mentioned this morning, he laid on his face before David in false humility. Was he really concerned about David? No, he was going to take advantage of David if he could. Was he concerned about Saul's death? No, he was concerned about who? Himself. He was looking out for himself. That's the thing. So we see this false humility and the flesh will do that. We've got to be cautious of that, of this idea of false humility. And it's deceptive, it's dangerous, it's dark. We want God to humble us. And if we won't humble ourselves, God will humble us. But we want true humility. Remember, humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking less about ourselves. We make it about the glory of God and being a blessing to other people, to being a blessing to others. Now, the whole time when he took advantage, you could imagine, this is a two-day journey by foot from Ziklag, which was all the way in the south, from Mount Gilboa, which was up in the north, That boy had to walk with that crown, and I'd imagine he had that crown hid. What you think, Brother Shane? Because he had to walk through Israel. And I know he didn't publish the fact to anybody else that he had that crown. He kept that thing tucked away somewhere so nobody would see that he was carrying the crown. Matter of fact, word hadn't even got down in the South yet that King Saul had died. that Jonathan had died or anybody else had died. They didn't even get word of the battle at this point. Couriers hadn't went out and told the news as of yet. The Philistines hadn't even come back yet from the battle, but he has a way of hurrying himself and getting down south. So what is he doing the entire time when he saw the opportunity? He's fabricating his story. Yes, he's got a false story to tell false humility and a false story, but the story had some elements of truth in it. Just like all it's going to be some elements there. I mean, if it was so blatant. all people wouldn't give you the light of day. So you gotta bring in some kind of elements of truth. Verse four, David said to him, how do you know? What was the matter? Please tell me. And he answered, the people have fled from the battle. Many people have fallen and the dead and Saul and Jonathan, his son are dead also. Verse five, so David said to the young man, well, how do you know? that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead. You see if it was more about David and if it was more about King Saul he would initially, David don't see any crown because he ain't made it known yet. He's thinking, I've got to do this thing, what? In a way that I can gain favor with him, that he'll trust me. And then I'm going to present it to him because David still says, well, what proof do you have about this? Tell me the proofs. How do you even know? How would you know other than reports that King Saul had died? And now that could have been, he could have got word that the Philistines done killed. I imagine the word were spreading up there, but you see, what is he doing? He's trying to get David hook lined and sinker. He's trying to bring him, he's trying to catch him and rapture him with this story. And he's not presenting his goods yet. He's keeping that back. So everything you see his actions is telling us, what is he trying to do? He's trying to pull one over. On this man, but you got to remember who david is David david is a spiritual man David is a man who's going to depend on the lord Even though david done some worse things than what this boy just done. You got to keep that in mind David just got back from killing men women and children Slaughtering them david's done some terrible things But David exposed everything he had before the Lord and he didn't come with no pretense before God. He constantly was asking God to do something in his heart and do something in his ways. But this boy is not thinking that away. Why? Because he's a natural man. And this is how natural men think. They calculate it in their thinking. They're logical in how they present everything. And they want to make sense with it in the proper time and the proper setting. So he's got elements of this truth, but he's then going to bring in his side of it. So verse five, so David said to the young man, who told you, how do you know Saul was dead? And then the young man said, as I happened by chance, just in a, think about it like this automatically, I'm sure David seeing the red flags here by chance, as the old King James read in that in verse number six, by chance, as your versions read, Stephanie, I happen to be, as I happen by chance to be on Mount Gilboa. I just happen to be there. Here's a war. Yeah, happened to be there. It's like he had a front row seat to it, right? And just happened to be there. David's gonna see through this. You'll notice, you'll notice that he picks up on it. And then how the young man uses these words. For an example, we don't necessarily see it in the English, though we do. But if you took, I went through this passage and kind of just broke it down from, The Hebrew side of it and there's a couple words in here that he uses Verse six, I'm gonna read it again Then the young man who told him said as I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa Wish y'all was King James the next phrase lo behold where the word behold is and the word indeed or the word low is used as three times he uses this in these two verses six and seven and it's kind of like if you was telling a story and you were caught by surprise as you're retelling it, like you're sitting there and you're trying to paint a picture for somebody of what you just saw or experienced and you're gonna throw, you're gonna put some trappings on it and you're gonna say like, by chance I was up on Mount Gilboa and wow, behold, hey, there's King Saul. That's how he's telling the story. If you was to get it in a natural tongue, and Mr. Billy and Greg, they're storytellers, they can tell a good story, right? And when they want to tell us a story, tell a little thing, they can put you in the scene. And that's what he was attempting to do, is put them there, like, I'm just as surprised as you are by seeing me telling you this story, I'm as surprised as you. Out of the clear blue, there's King Saul, wow. That's how he's telling it. Wow, there he is. Behold was Saul leaning on his spear and, what's his next word? And lo, my translation says indeed, what's yours say Miss Barbara? And behold, there it is again. It's like, hey, wait a minute. Look, not only is he leaning on the sword, Look, there's chariots that are chasing him down. They're within eyesight. Here they come. He's leaning over on his sword. He can't get off his sword. He's alive and can't go nowhere. And here's the chariots racing on top of that mountain. You see, he's painting a picture. He's doing everything he can to what? Convince David his version. Because what he said when he found Saul, and there was death, and there was destruction, and Saul had died, Jonathan had died, all that, he's telling it as fact, because it's true, they dead. But when he goes to paint the picture that Saul is still alive, he starts using terms in ways like, wow, I'm just as surprised as you are that he was here. I'm just as surprised as you are there were still chariots going around on their horses. And then he goes a little bit further in verse number seven. And when he looked behind him, that would be Saul, he saw me and he called to me and I answered. What does y'all's translation say? Here am I. What does yours say, Steph? He says, how can I help? How can I help? You know why hers says, how can I help? And ours says, here am I? Because it's in the same vein as the behold. He's saying, surprisingly, he saw me. I can't believe it either, David. Saul was there. Chairs were there, and Saul says, hey, he talked to me. He wanted me to come over. and help now our translators put in there from the perspective of him like saying here am I or or what can I do to help he's saying I'm just as surprised as you me telling you this story that he wanted to include me in it goes along with the behold and the indeed or the low it's in the same it's the same family of words of saying I'm shocked that he engaged me in that place well So I answered, I am a Amalekite. And he said to me again, please stand over me and kill me for anguish has come upon me but my life still remains in me. All right, if all that be the case, why would he have to tell him? Meaning that the man's dead and he's under anguish, he's got to tell him I still got life. If he's talking to him, why would he have to tell him he still has life? But remember, he's trying to recount a story that he's fabricated in his mind to sell this to David, so even as he's telling it, he's not even thinking what he's saying really ain't making a whole lot of sense, right? Think about it. If you were lying there, Brother Shannon, and you wanted me to pick a stone up and put you out your misery, you wouldn't have to tell me you were still alive, would you? You just say, kill me, shoot me. I'm in anguish and I still got breath. I need you to shoot me. No, you wouldn't, you wouldn't go through all that. Just kill me. You, you, you see, but he wants, he wants David to think that Saul is the one who initiated and made him do what he did, and though he did it, Davis didn't gonna ask him, why were you not afraid to do it? Remember, because the armor bearer, Saul did ask him to do it, but the armor bearer said, I'm not doing it. And then Saul did it on his own and it was over with. So we've got, what, a false humility, a false story, all from a natural man, but you gotta always remember, why is he doing this falsely? Why is he telling this false story? And why is he showing this false humility? Because see, he's got a false motive. He believes this is gonna be his meal ticket. He really believes this is going to be my solution. This is going to take care of me. The king or the future king or this man who I believe sees Saul as his ace number one enemy who would rather than any other news to hear that this king is dead and I'm going to present him the crown. But that wasn't David's heart, was it? David? didn't want Saul necessarily to die. Matter of fact, he never ever even one time mentions scripturally or anything he writes that Saul was his enemy because he never, he could never see him as an enemy. He wouldn't. He is an opportunist, is what you're looking at. And that's the natural man and the natural world is an opportunity. He knew that in his mind, as a natural man, as a logical man, everybody in the world knew King Saul was looking for David. I mean, they went all over the country chasing him. And he knew that David was with the Philistines, And he would have anticipated potentially David being with the Philistines, even in the battle. And David would have been had not those five Lords sent them back. So the King sends him back. So we see here, he recognizes by talking with people, obviously where David was. So a two day journey, that's a long way back in them days. That's a long way from where he was at. And he says in verse number nine, and he said to me again, please stand over, kill me. So I stood over him and killed him because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen and I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm and I brought them here to my Lord. False motive in what he's doing. Ultimately, He attempted to use someone else's misfortune to gain favor with David. That's just an opportunist in a natural world. And that's what we see in this whole section. We see the difference between somebody who's heavenly minded and somebody earthly minded. And the earthly minded man is gonna die this day. Because the earthly minded man is already dead. He just doesn't even know it. So verse 11, therefore David took hold of his clothes and tore them and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword. Notice how the heavenly minded man thinks he's mourning over those that were lost, but he's also mourning over the integrity of how the world around them would look at the Lord and That more than anything because you got to always go back remember when David faced Goliath that day for Saul and the nation David said that his ultimate aim was is that the world may know that there's a God in Israel That was his goal. That's what he wanted more than anything, that people would know who he is and that he wouldn't be mocked. He wouldn't be saw as any other thing. So we've got some false honor here in how this man did what he did with David and saying that I brought him to my Lord. Verse 13, then David said to the young man at some point in this, who told him, where are you from? David told him, where are you from? And he answered and said, I'm the son of an alien, a sojourner. Amalekite, verse 14. So David said, how was it? How is it even possible that you were not afraid? You haven't shown any hesitation, no trembling, no grief. How is it? that you are not afraid to put forth your hand and destroy the Lord's anointed, somebody that's been touched by God. Why did you not defend him to the death? Why are you not dead fighting against the Philistines on that battlefield to protect this king that God had anointed? But you come here today with no heavy heart that you killed in confession of your own confession you killed the one who had been touched by God man David said it ain't adding up is it it ain't adding up even though David didn't have the other part of the story the only story he had was this man's story But he knew what was being told to him is not adding up with the spirit of this man, and this man's heart's not right. No matter if it happened the way that it happened or not, and it didn't happen the way that it happened, the man didn't kill Saul. You see, but he said he did. And therefore, by his own tongue, he acknowledged his own death. How can it be? How is it that you are not afraid to put forth your hand and destroy? The Lord's anointed. Verse 15, then David called one of the young men and said, go near and execute him. And they struck him so that he died. Verse 16, so David said to him, your blood is upon your own head for your mouth has testified against you saying, I've killed the Lord's anointed. The injustice of an unchanged heart. that mocks the glory and grace of God's gift and purpose for their own personal gain. That's what we have here. What did I say this morning? Taking credit for his death with no intent to serve him, only in how it can benefit me when I need it. Think about how many times people will acknowledge Jesus, but have no intent to serve Jesus. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Well, there's a big reason for that. And that's where we're going to go into now where we're looking at this dedication and devotion of David to both Jonathan specifically as well as King Saul. And that's when you look in verse number 17 where it says, Then David lamented this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son. And he told them to teach the children of Judah the song of the bow. Indeed, it is written in the book of Jasher. The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places. David's gonna write a song, because he wants this to be moralized. He wants this to be a living legacy of both Saul and Jonathan, and in particular, Jonathan. Because David had a special relationship with Jonathan. They were closer than a brother. And he's going to say his love was beyond that of even the love of a woman. Because there was this loyalty to one another that went beyond what one could do for one another. There was just this pure, unadulterated love for each other that would lay their lives down for each other. And that's what we see. And he's gonna bring that up. For an example, the beauty of Israel is slain on your high places, how the mighty have fallen. Both David, excuse me, both Saul and Jonathan, but he's gonna draw out a little bit even more on Jonathan in this. For an example, look in 25, how the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle. Jonathan was slain in your what? High places, which he's already said, the beauty of Israel slain on your high places. And he's gonna make reference to, as I mentioned this morning, David saw a quality in Jonathan that was unparalleled by anybody in Israel, in his mind. That if Israel could be like Jonathan as a whole, Israel would be a place of splendor and majesty. Because Jonathan was such of a loyal character and a warrior who fought, a warrior who defended, a warrior who had a right relationship with his father and a warrior who had a right relationship with whom his father saw as his enemy. Jonathan was able to balance rightly so his favor with his father and favor with David at the same time because of who he was as a man. and who he was before the Lord and his desire to honor God and all that he did, he always honored his father. And he was loyal to his friend. He's just a great character to see in the scriptures. Matter of fact, we see Jonathan, remember Jonathan, early in the book of 1 Samuel, let's go find it, let's go find it. Watch what he says. Some of the greatest words penned in scripture. Go to 1 Samuel. First Samuel, let's find this. Chapter 14. You got to keep in mind, Jonathan was somewhere potentially between 20 and 25 years older than David. That's something that's not always seen initially when you're reading this, but he was a much older man than David. Though David's young, and Jonathan's not old either, but he's older by probably 20 years or more, older than him. But look in chapter 14. Chapter 14 says, now it happened one day that Jonathan, now David's not even born at this time, wouldn't be born for a bit. Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison that is on the other side. But he did not tell his father. And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree. That's another characteristic of Saul. You always see him sitting under a tree. He's always under a tree somewhere. And that's one of the problems because the Bible describes David as a tree. But Saul was always sitting under a tree. Which pictured that Saul was really always under the shadow of David. That's what made it so hard on him. Remember when they come back from that battle and the women were singing their songs? That Saul killed his thousands, but David killed his 10,000, and he got more glory, and boy, he didn't like that. See, a natural man wouldn't like that. But remember, Saul was a natural man turned into a supernatural man, but then reverted back to his natural side. So anything in the natural that went against his natural feelings would be a jab at him. He couldn't properly process it right. So we go on a little bit further and of course that's what they do. Look in verse number six. Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, come and let us go over to the garrison of the uncircumcised that it might be that the Lord will work what? For us. For God for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by many. Man, that's a word right there. You can hang your hat on that. God doesn't need our strength or our numbers, does he? That's what he was doing. So his armor bearer said to him, do all that is in your heart. Go then, here am I with you according to your heart. And Jonathan went up and that's exactly what he did. God gave him a great victory that he overcome the garrison of the Philistines that day. So this tells you the heart of him, this man dependent upon who? He depended upon the Lord. He was dependent upon the Lord. This speaks volumes. That verse six again, for nothing restrains, nothing holds back the Lord from delivering by many or by... Man, we can have a million and God give victory or we can have three and he can give victory. It doesn't matter how many we got. The battle belongs to... the Lord. That's what we see. Well, let's go a little bit further in and testify to this deal with David and Goliath. Keep in mind, nobody's fighting. Everybody's afraid of Goliath. This is in chapter 17 of 1 Samuel. Nobody is in a position to fight. Now, there's a good reason for that. Why? What was God doing? He's going to put David in the spotlight. He was gonna bring David in. It wasn't by accident. Remember David's father, Jesse, sent him to the battlefield to bring some stuff to his brothers. But all that was what? Providential. God was putting him there. And when David seen what was going on, he could not go any further and said, look, this ain't right. This ain't right. This is just not right. Verse number, look at 17, 36, we're gonna look at David because this same spirit is gonna be in David all the way through. Verse 36 says, your servant has killed both lion and bear and this what? Uncircumcised, uncovenanted man will be like one of them seeing he has defied the armies of God. Verse 46. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcass of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beast of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God, where? Man, see that's the heart of David. That's the man after God's own heart. That's what he wanted more than anything else. So we know the victory. Goes and gets the five smooth stones. He drops Goliath. Then Saul begins the ass over in verse number 55. 1755, when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, as your soul lives, O king, I really don't know. So the king said, inquire whose son this man is. See, he's thinking like a natural man. He wants to know what family he's from. That's what mattered to Saul. Then as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistines, verse 57, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. I mean, he's got that big noggin in his hand, carrying it to him. Verse 8, 58, and Saul said to him, he's still what? Wanting to know who's your daddy. Whose son are you, young man? So David answered, I am the son of who? I'm the son of your servant, Jesse the Bethlehemite. You see, what do you see with David? A man that trusted God, a man that honored God, a man that honored his father, but a man that's also honoring the king who he's standing before. The whole time, here's a young man that keeps genuine, genuine humility, not thinking less of who he is, but less about who, everything's about what? The glory of God, blessing God's people, magnifying and being a servant of the King. Now, watch what verse number one of 18 says. This is this connection to Jonathan. Now when David had finished speaking the Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit, bound, tied to the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Not after getting to know him, not after getting to find out more about him it was just one of those fondness and loves for for the person regardless of his background regardless of who his daddy was regardless of any of those things you follow with me He just loved him. His soul was knit to him. Here's this young man who just conquered the enemy. And when he heard him speak and he quit talking to his dad, the scripture says that his soul was bound to him. Now watch what he does though. Saul took him that day and wouldn't let him go home to his father's house anymore. He took him as his own to use him. Verse three, then Jonathan and David made a what? A covenant. A covenant of blood because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan, notice this, Jonathan took off his robe that was on him, gave it to David with his armor, even to his sword and bow and his belt. You know what that's a picture of? Jonathan, 20 plus years older. who so loved this man with a pure unadulterated love and loyal to him, surrendered the future of his reign over the kingdom into the hands of this young man. Just in a supernatural way. Even though at that point in time, it hadn't been made known to neither Saul nor Jonathan, as far as from Samuel or anybody else's perspective, that you're looking at the future king of Israel here. And Jonathan said, I would rather serve David as king over Israel than that be passed down to me. He's going to be the rightful king. And he yielded his He yielded everything to Him. And that's the picture of us when it comes to Jesus. Who routed a great victory for us over sin, the enemy, at the cross. And we don't have to know everything there is to know about Him. But you what? Supernaturally, you love Him. Amen? And you what? Surrender your reign over your own life. You turn it over to Him. That's the picture. of this covenant love of laying it down at the feet of the rightful authority over your life. And the scripture goes on that three different times. I think it's again over in chapter 20, it may say, and it could be another place in here, but it does say again that he loved him as his own soul. It loved, he loved him as his own soul. So when he gives that tribute to his death, we see David bringing that out. We bringing that out. So look back if you would to 2 Samuel 1 in this tribute. Verse 19, the beauty of Israel is slain on your high places, how the mighty have fallen. Tell it not, in Gath, these are all places in the Philistine area. Proclaim it not in the streets of Ascalon, for fear the daughters of the Philistines do what? Rejoice. Least the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Those that don't have a covenant promise from God that they triumph in this victory that just took place. You see, at the heart of it, David didn't want them to mock the covenant of God. Verse 21, O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no more dew, nor rain upon you, nor fields of offerings, nor the shield of the mighty is cast away there. The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil, that is most of those shields were leather, shields and after battle when they would come home they would anoint them and rub them down with oil so they wouldn't dry out from the sweat and the blood and everything else that was put on they'd clean them up put oil on them but Saul's shields and the people that died that day wouldn't be anointed that way because they were lost on the battlefield. So that's the picture here. Verse 22, from the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back and the sword of Saul did not return empty. That is they fought to the death. Verse 23, Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided. That's key. You see, they were one. And I think that's why he refers to the beauty of Israel is how David saw that Saul and Jonathan were one. They were united in this work. They were stronger, he says in this, they were not divided, they were swifter than eagles, and they were stronger than lions. Verse 24, O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and with luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. That is saying in his reign and his leadership for those 40 years, the nation prospered, they did better. during that timeframe. Verse 25, how the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle. Jonathan was slain in your high places. I am distressed for you. Notice now he's going to talk in personal. Before he's talking to the what? The people, now he's directing it straight toward Jonathan. I am distressed for you, my brother, Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was wonderful. Suppressing the love of, women, how the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war perished. You see, we're talking about a bond of friendship that was unbreakable and he was grieved over it and he was saying that here's a man, David, who had many wives and many women in his mind that even the love of a woman, for an example, your wife, what does your wife want? What does the scripture say that a wife wants from her husband? All his what? His affection, his attention, all those things. And when they don't have those things, what does it normally create? What can it create? tension in a relationship because it's just the way God's wired and made all and but he's saying their relationship between Jonathan and him none of that was there that didn't have to be there if they were separated for five years because of them being on a run when they come back together it was like they've never been separated before that it was pure that there was nothing David had to do for him to gain his favor in his life. He didn't have to perform for him. He didn't have to prove anything to him. He just loved me for who I am. And I loved him for who he was. It's that love that sticketh closer than a brother. It's a pure thing that I'm not looking for something out of this. I just like you. That's the idea that we have here. In a world we live in, people have taken that and they tried to go in a whole nother direction with it. They say, look, David was a homosexual. Him and Jonathan were homosexuals. And there's not one thing when you read in that and you go back and read of how it started and the way it started and their relationship with one another and Jonathan's character and David's character and how they stood and what they stood for, you will know that there was no way that that could even be a hint toward what that is speaking of. It's speaking of a purity of fondness and of a friendship that was loyal to one another and he saw Jonathan as a marvelous character of a man that could remain a proper relationship with his own father and be one with him, be united with him. but show such great compassion and love toward his younger friend who his dad saw as a threat to him but Jonathan didn't even want the kingdom that he knew rightfully belonged to David and that he was okay with the fact that that throne and all this power didn't have to be mine, I'd rather see David in authority and leading with it. And you see, that's the picture of us when we have this relationship with Jesus, that we want Him to get the glory. We want him to be the praise. We want people to see him and know he's the rightful king over our life. And there was a point in my life that I thought I can rule and I would be king over my own life, but God brought me into a relationship with somebody else who said, uh-uh, he's the king, amen. And I'll bow the knee to him. So it's a great picture. I mean, this chapter is full of, as I mentioned this morning, it's full of what? Destruction, defeat, deceit, damnation, but it's also full of devotion, dedication, and duty of a brother who wanted to honor his friend. in his life and in his death and for days to come. It's rich, it's good. And you see a natural man doing all he can with a natural world and a heavenly hearted man doing all he has with what God's put in his disposal to honor the king for his glory. Because David was a king and he will lead, but David always knew he had a king. and he functioned under his authority, amen? So that made all the difference in the world. Now, we're not gonna go look at it for time's sake tonight, but we were gonna go, Pierce, in Exodus 17, that's when we were introduced to this problem, number one, with the deceptiveness of this group of people who were descendants of Esau, how they attacked the children of Israel, and they came in from behind, and they attacked the weak, and the feeble, and the older, and the crippled. That's how they come in. They attack from the rear. And then later on the Scripture is going to say, because they did what they did, God says that He had made them a perpetual hatred, that He would destroy them all. They may be premier among the nations, but I will destroy them in the end. Why? Because they're natural man who function and live in a natural world without a heavenly God. And that always ends terribly for the world we live in. And so it's just, oh man, there's a lot in here, right? Well, look, y'all keep at it, keep going at it. Every time you see dates or times or ages, mark it and maybe you can see some things that you may have not picked up on in days gone by, okay? Lord Jesus, we love you. Praise you and thank you. We ask you to help us as we look to you Lord, we want to help other people around us. We do want to be those servants of yours that bow the knee in our hearts and our minds and we plead with you to give us your love and kindness each morning and show us the way we're to walk in, to teach us your will and that we know that the things we may say today and the things we may do today or even the more if you give us tomorrow we want them to be able to touch another generation even the generation we live in among now but even a future generation that we can see that down the road when we're dead and gone that it still has life in it so we want to praise you and thank you for the testimony of this word that we have explored tonight, that it still speaks, there's still life, it's life in it. And that is because you touched it, and we want you to touch us. So Lord, we thank you and ask for your help through it, use us in this season, and we're gonna praise you and give you the glory for it. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Ain't he good? All the time.