Verse 16 says, David was then in the stronghold and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. Verse 17, and David said longingly, oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate. Verse 18, then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord, verse 19, and said, Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men. Well, this is the word of the Lord, and it will most certainly add His abundant, gracious and magnified blessing to the reading of his holy truth, and let's pray. Our most blessed and gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for the blessed truth that you have set before us. As we look into 1 Chronicles 11, we ask you, Father, that you'll be glorified, that Christ will be exalted. and that we might find application from your Word so that we may worship you not only from the depths of our souls, but also in the practice of our lives. We love you and thank you so much. We worship you from the Word, Lord. Be exalted above the heavens. In Jesus' name and for his sake, we do pray. Amen. Again, in your handout, it has the Hebrew name of Chronicles, which is Devri Hayimim, which means the words of the days. We believe that the authorship was after the children of Israel when they had been taken captive in the Babylon and in their return that Ezra. the faithful scribe, the author of the book of Ezra in the Old Testament, that he may have been the author of it and so this 1st and 2nd Chronicles may have been written between 516 BC and 486 BC. Now in the breakdown of the chapter, which is really interesting in and of itself, it's very simple. We have David is anointed as the king in verses 1 through 3, as you have in your handout. David takes Jerusalem in verses 4 through 9, the city of Jebus, where the Jebusites live. And then in verses 10 through 47, we have David and his mighty men. But very interestingly, the way that the outline seemed to come from the chapter, it presents a truth of the gospel. As you see an outline of the gospel here, it's how salvation takes place in the soul, as in verse three, where it says, so all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel. He was called to be the king, but as we see the gospel in it, that at the death of self, whereas Saul represents the self, Saul dies. We saw that in previous chapters, the death of Saul and his disobedience. At the death of Saul, David's anointed king, but at the death of self, the truth of the anointing of the Lord Jesus Christ is realized. It is a revelation unto us. And we are awakened by the Holy Spirit to recognize Christ Jesus as King of Kings. And in verse 4, it says, And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is, Jebus, where the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land. And see, before Jerusalem became Jerusalem, it was called Jebus, and it was inhabited by idolaters. which is also the truth of what happens in our lives. We were idolaters. We worshiped things that oppose God. And idolatry simply, as I remind you time and again, it's anything that's equal to or greater than Christ in your life. So even if it's equal to Christ, it becomes an idol because there should be nothing comparable to Christ as he is God incarnate. And then so as we see that idolaters who hate and rejected God's anointed, and in fact, in going back to 2 Samuel, we recognize that when David did take it, they said, well, let us take all our maimed and our blind and our lame and put them out because David being a holy king, he's not gonna come up here and take it. But Joab went up and took it. In verse five, we see again, the truth of the gospel, as the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, you will not come in here. Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David. And then just mentioning the city of David, remember that in the scriptures, we have two cities of David, Bethlehem, which is the birthplace of Christ, but we also have the city of David, which is Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city in which God says he places his name, and it is the holy city. But the reason why it's holy is because that's where Jesus was crucified. That's where the truth of atonement is most elevated because it was Jerusalem where the Lord Jesus was hung upon a cross. So when we see this, that's you and me. That by God's grace He saved us, as He not only awakens us to the truth of Christ, He must overtake us by the truth of Christ, because our flesh rebels against the gospel, it rebels against God, and so God must, by a mighty hand, redeem us. Because our flesh says, no, you will not take this city. And in the Holy War on Sunday nights, we've been looking at this as John Bunyan presents a blessed allegory of this type of holy war that takes place. And then in verse 6, which I'll read, David said, whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and commander and Joab. the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief. And in verse six, there's a response to God's word, a response to Christ's command to strike the Jebusites that reflects repentance, that accompanies faith, it's a grace of God. Because by the previous verse, we know that we wouldn't repent unless there was a regeneration that takes place. And in fact, even the person that goes up, it's not a coincidence that his name is Yoav. Yoav means Jehovah, his father. which also hints of Christ, as David is a type of Christ. Yoav means Jehovah, his father. And that presents the conversion, that as Joab goes up, because Jehovah now is father, because we have been saved by God's grace through his son, we go up and take Jerusalem. The flesh is put down and it's subdued and it's put to death. And so conversion takes place and we're made sons of God in Christ. And then in verse seven where it says, and David lived in the stronghold, therefore it was called the city of David. It's called the City of David. Jesus lives in us. Jesus lives within the conquered city of your life, in my life, in our lives. And then, as in verses 10 through 47, it presents the mighty men of David. that represents the mighty men of God, that you and I, as we are saved by God's grace in Christ, that we have battles still to wage against the flesh, as Colossians tells us, to put to death the mortal members of our body, that we are to be crucified with Christ, as Paul tells us in Galatians chapter 2. And that even in Ephesians, as the mighty men reflect, we are strong in the Lord Jesus and go forth in the power of his might. And so here in chapter 11, you have a great picture of a, you know, just a portion of the gospel and how God has saved us. And it is recorded in his word. But what do we see as far as for the blessed application from our text? And now the message is entitled, Refusing Drink, Risking Life, and Redeeming Thirst. And you can see that on your handout that I go through it backwards. The title is written basically backwards. So on each of the first three points, we will consider its historical context, And then we'll cover its holy parallel. In other words, we will see Christ from the portion, as Jesus said in John 5, verse 39. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they that testify of me. Redeeming thirst, risking life, refusing drink, we'll see a responsive character. How do we respond? How does this help us to live out the truth of Christ and Him crucified in our lives? a thirst of a bunkered soldier in verses 16 to 17. David, this is before he, it goes back now, it backtracks a little bit and gives us a little bit of history. David is king, he takes Jerusalem, but now we're talking about the mighty men, so it goes back to a time when the Philistines are, Saul is alive and the Philistines are fighting against them. They've come all the way in from Gaza and Gath and all these other places that are along the coast where the land of the Philistines are and they have moved eastward and they've even taken Bethlehem which is David's city. And David Being in the stronghold and then the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem in verse 17, and David said longingly, oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate. A longing for something to drink. And where we find the parallel here in this, why it's called redeeming thirst, we've been looking at it on Sunday night. Where Jesus cries out, I thirst. And I won't go into all the particulars there. We took with those two verses, John chapter 28 and verse, and John chapter 19, excuse me, and verses 28 and 29, where Jesus, knowing that all that was finished said to fulfill the scripture, I thirst, and then a jar full of sour wine stood there and they put a sponge and it was full of the sour wine on the hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. And we looked at three of the five points we're covering Last two Sunday nights ago. We'll be looking at the last two points tonight But with Jesus saying this I thirst he presents one of the things he presents is humanity And he refused to drink at the very beginning this sour wine basically or vinegar. It was poison. It was a toxic mixture of myrrh And it was supposed to anesthetize, and I butchered however you say that, it was supposed to be an anesthetic for the people that were being crucified or anybody that was being beaten or whatever in order that the Jews might show some mercy upon them. And we looked at that on a Sunday night. And so they tried to give this to Jesus and Jesus refused. And so while he's hanging upon the cross, what's significant about that is he takes the full brunt of the wrath of God in his weakest physical condition. That was the purpose of the beatings so that no one could say, well, Jesus didn't suffer enough for me. I'm such a sinner that God needs to do more. Jesus is sufficient in all that he did. Before his death, he suffered to the very depths of all that could be given. The treasure of heaven suffered far deeper than we'll ever know suffering, and therefore his death is sufficient and his death is powerful to save. So we see his humanity here from the thirst of a bloody Savior And so that when he cries out I thirst that when we see David in the Old Testament We should be reminded of Christ who did cry out I thirst and he did so to fulfill the scripture He did so to fulfill a psalm psalm 69 But also I believe he did so to fulfill this that as David cried out David was being prophetic looking forward to Christ and Jesus Purposely said I thirst so that every time we come to this passage we would be reminded of his thirst, of God becoming a man and dying for us. Then we see of this that when David made mention of this, I thirst, and he longed for that which he had grown up with, the sweet, cool, refreshing waters of Bethlehem at the gate. That these men, the truth of the loyal men risking their lives, as it says in the first part of verse 18, Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. Now we don't have details of this. Was it the three mighty men and the men under them that came in and then just routed this Philistine camp that had Bethlehem hedged in? We don't know, and God doesn't give it to us, and so I'm not going to make a conjecture of that. Or did they sneak through, as we see? There was a time when the spear and water container of Saul was taken by David. And Saul, asleep, and he calls out to Abner, Abner, you're supposed to protect the king. And look, here's his spear. Here's his canteen. What are you doing, pal? And David snuck down. Was it this? So we don't know. But what we do know is that they went in to where the enemies had made a stronghold themselves in Bethlehem. And they went so without thought of the loss of life. Even by David's comment, he recognizes this. But in this, as the truth of loyal men, we see the truth of a loving Messiah. As they laid down their life for their friend, for David, for their leader, for the captain, for the one who was anointed and beloved of God, the one that would be the next king. as these mighty men fought for him. We see the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the truth of a loving Messiah. In John chapter 10 and verse 17, Jesus said, for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. The truth of the loyal men for David reminds us of that there was one more loyal. There was a loyal man. There was one who was loyal to his Father in heaven, and he came to earth. He came into enemy lines, if you will. He came to refresh his father with a life that is pleasing to him. And we see the truth of the life-empowering refreshment that is given unto us, just as kind of a little side note that I provided for you in John chapter 7 and verse 37 and 39, where Jesus says, on the last day of the great feast, which is the Feast of Tabernacles that was recorded in John chapter 7, on that great day, Jesus stood up, and if you get a picture of what's going on at the Feast of Tabernacles, For the previous days, they would take the water from the Pool of Shalom. They'd take the water, reflecting the thirst that they suffered, that Israel suffered in the wilderness. And then on the last day, on the great day, that they would be able to drink freely because of the mercy of God and the provision of God as He provides water from the rock. But Jesus on that last day stands up in front of him and says, if any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart, or out of his belly in the old King James Version, but out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said of the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified. In other words, he had not gone yet to the cross and he had not yet risen from the dead and sent the Holy Spirit. So the truth of the loyal men risking their lives should automatically point to the loyal man who gave his life. who laid down His life. the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we look at refusing the drink that in the last part of verse 18, it says, but David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord. He gave it as a sacrifice to the Lord, but it wasn't even his sacrifice as we find out in a moment. So he pours it out to the Lord. And in verse 19, he says, and said, far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the life blood? of these men, for at the risk of their lives, they brought it. Therefore, he would not drink it. And these things did the three mighty men. In refusing the drink, we see the truth of the humble conduct of David. We see it in three things. We see it in the exhibits, Christ's unselfishness there. You know, I think I'm gonna leave this towards the end, because it'll make more sense once we go over through these things and we see its application. We see how Christ is exalted by it, but the example that David is more of an example of Christ, and when we talk about Christ in our lives, it'll be better for us altogether, I think. I'm gonna put it in a different place in my notes. But David shows a truth of humble conduct. Here are these men, they risk their lives and he says, hey, you know what? You sacrificed your life, this is your sacrifice. I'm gonna pour it out to the Lord. This is for the Lord that you did it, not really for me. And he humbles himself. You guys don't exist for me. You guys are valuable. You men are the Lord's men. and I'm not gonna take advantage of that. So he humbles himself. Here's the one whom God already through Samuel has anointed him as king, though he is still not yet king, but he does a very kingly thing. He does such a noble thing by saying, you know, I am not worthy of this, that you sacrifice your life to give me a drink while the enemy is at the gates. But we see the truth of this holy consecration in the Lord Jesus Christ. Whereas they, when they did offer him the wine to drink mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink. And so that the Lord Jesus Christ, when he humbled himself to die the death upon the crosses, it says in Philippians chapter two, you all know that passage, right? Cause I quote it so often. Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but took on the form of a servant. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross. But it is worthy of saying twice, he humbled himself even unto death, the death of a cross. This is where Jesus, as a servant, He would take on the full wrath of God, the eternal wrath of God, the infinite wrath of God for sins He did not commit. Paying a debt He did not owe for a debt that we owe and could not possibly pay. But what do we do with this? We see the truth of this. We can even make the connections of this. How does this make us to walk for Christ? How does this help us to live through the power of Christ for the glory of God? How does this make us more like Christ? Well, the first thing we'll look at is the thirst for Christ in our responsive character. We see the psalmist in the Sons of Korah, Psalm 42 and verses one and two, as the deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for you, O God. O God, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? The whole idea of David even crying out, I thirst, that the psalm for the sons of Korah, whether it was David writing for the sons of Korah or the sons of Korah actually wrote it, we're not positive, but God should be thirsted for. The Lord Jesus preached it in the Sermon on the Mount, as we know, in chapter 5 of Matthew. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled, or they shall be satisfied." The satisfaction of the truth, of thirsting after Christ, being satisfied with a drink of Christ, and yet He who satisfies while we are living in this existence of mortal flesh, he satisfies only for a moment that we may be satisfied again and again and again until we are glorified at his return, that we may be satisfied longingly forever in Christ. because He is the eternal treasure. We see a treasure of Christ, a thirst for Christ because He is our eternal treasure. Matthew 6 and verse 21, though it was speaking of money and stewardship, money and stewardship, our offerings unto God, our offerings in the church each week when we come, those are only a reflection of our responsibility. So when we have the truth of the gospel, we have a greater responsibility unto that. And if we can't, you know, be tidy in our checkbook, as it were, To be responsible unto pennies, how could we be responsible unto the Prince of Peace? And so he gives us those little things, and that by habit in the little things, we see the great truth of the gospel and our responsibility therein. It's a treasure, because Christ is a treasure. Matthew 6, verse 21 says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And that lesson that was given concerning, you know, money, monetary things, stewardship, that's a reflection of those things that God gives us in His sovereignty and in His providence so that we can be responsible for the greater things, the eternal things, the infinitely more valuable things, Christ and His gospel. Loving the Holy One of Israel. As it says in 1 John 4 and verse 19, we love because He first loved us. Our love is a response to the love of God. Because God is love. And we see loving one another. 1 John 4 verses 7-8, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. And so, as I've told you time and time and time and time and time again, that love is not a verb, love is not an action, love is not a choice. Our choices and our actions and even our speaking comes from that truth, but God is love. first and foremost, and then how we respond to that love. We love Him and therefore our actions and our choices will be made because the truth of God being love itself and Christ being the embodiment of love in His person. John chapter 13 verse 34, Jesus says, the new commandment I give you that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. But we are to love as Christ has loved us. Well, he went to the cross. Does that mean I'm supposed to be crucified? Spiritually speaking, yes. Paul said that in Galatians chapter 2. I quoted it a little earlier, Galatians 2 and verse 20. I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Getting back to this here, this whole thing, is that that's how we have a triumph in Christ. Our crucified life is because of who Christ is and what He has done. It's based upon the substitutionary atonement that He became a substitute for us. He died in my place. He died in your place. He died in our place. Romans 8.37 shows how we triumph through Christ, knowing all these things. That's mentioned in points 1 and 2, that we thirst for Christ and He is our treasure. We love Him because He loved us. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. How so? Well, Jesus said in Matthew 16 and verse 24, then Jesus was telling his disciples, this is how, so. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Now how does Christ's statement of true discipleship connect with our text at hand? Well, I'm glad you asked, because I'm gonna tell you. First, there is an honest selflessness. As Jesus commands us to deny self, it's reflected in the mighty men hearing the voice of David and giving not a thought to their own lives. but only that which pleased their leader, how much more than when we hear the truth of Christ's cross, of Jesus, who is very God, who became man, and then thirsting while He suffered upon the tree, showing the truth of His humanity, that He was very man, suffering God's wrath upon the cross, dying a death, having His side pierced for the shedding of blood and all those things that are fulfilled from the Old Testament told forward in the Lord Jesus Christ, that when He speaks, should we not hear? Should we not deny self and say, you know, I know it's dangerous to live the life for Christ now, but I'm going to live for Him. It's not even a thought anymore in my conscious mind as far as living for Christ. It just is. How can you not live for Christ, some of us may think, as we've grown in grace and have been strengthened in faith. And then we look at those who have rejected Christ and can't even remember what it was when we didn't know Christ. and remembering that that's who we were once before the Lord Jesus saved me. And it brings us into a humble obedience that God spared not his only son in order to save us. He gave the treasure of heaven and it should humble us. And that means taking up our own cross, taking up his or taking up his cross, as Jesus says it, taking up his cross, it becomes our own personal possession. See, when David spoke a word specifically about the cool, sweet, refreshing waters of his hometown in Bethlehem, at that well. They humbly obeyed. And notice, as I mentioned also last week, that this wasn't a direct command. He just said, oh, it would be nice to have a drink. And a drink from that well at Bethlehem that was dug by my father's father's father. Probably a well that was dug by Boaz. But they obeyed the eternal command They obeyed an eternal command, which we are to do anytime Christ commands. And we know that when Christ commands, he says, do this and we should do it. And he says, don't do this and we should not do it. But there are things that are, as I mentioned last week, things that are not specifically written, as James tells us. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. And we looked at that last week. We don't have a direct command there, but they obeyed as if it was an eternal command written upon a regenerate heart. See, when we're saved, Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 26 says that God will put into us a new heart and a new spirit. God says that... First, he says, though you have the covenant to circumcision, you need to circumcise the foreskin of your heart. Then in Deuteronomy, I believe it's chapter 30, he says, I will, see, this is the thing, I command you to do it, but I am to do it. I will circumcise because it's a spiritual thing. Who can open up your chest and let me, wait a minute, Lord, where's the foreskin? He is going to do that because it was a reflection of the change of life, the regeneration that takes place when he says in Ezekiel 36 and 26, I will put into you a new heart and a new spirit and I will write my commandments upon it so that you'll do my will. and keep those commandments. And so now the new soul in Christ has the law of God written through a regenerated life, through a resurrected life, when once we were dead in trespasses and sins. And so it's not necessarily keeping the law by the letter. There is a spirit there that presents unto us the truth of a loving God and loving others. As I mentioned last week, again, in Luke chapter 10 and verse 27, when Jesus says to the guy that says, how do I inherit eternal life? Ascribe, how do I inherit eternal life? How do you read the scriptures? Jesus says to him and so he quotes Deuteronomy 6 4 and Leviticus 1918 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself That see loving God and loving others is so intrinsically inherently, essentially, fundamentally, they're so bound together that you can't separate one from another. And it makes sense because Jesus, if he came and said, I love God, the Father, but I'm not dying for any of you scoundrels, you rascals. Man, I came down here and you conspire to kill me, you religious leaders and my disciples. You can't understand a word I'm saying. Well, I'm not dying for you. I'm just going to do this for my father. Well, that doesn't make sense. He came down for us to die for us. And in dying for us, He celebrates the Father. He worships the Father. He does the Father's will. Christ's cross is our possession, our paradigm. That's example, folks. Young people, that's example. It's our possession. When we take up the cross in humble obedience to follow, we deny self, we take up the cross, and it is our possession because it's our cross. What He has done becomes ours. It is our paradigm. It's our example. This is what Jesus did. And it is our power. So that when we see the truth of the cross, this is what empowers us from inside. It changes our thinking, and it's the truth of the regeneration bubbling up in us. This is why, young people, this is why you gotta read the Bible every day. Because when you're saved by God's grace, He changes the inside, the heart and the spirit. He gives you a new one. He resurrects you. And then now in order to behave more like Christ, you have to read the word because your mind is renewed by the reading of the word and the washing of the water thereby. So that now the truth must travel from a new heart to the head. Whereas before we were saved, the truth must travel from the head. Oh, I read this, but it doesn't make sense. It goes to an empty vessel, a dead soul. And now here's the third thing. The truth of God's Christ, the truth of God's cross, it always trusts the results with our obedient actions to God's sovereign will and grace. I want to say that again. The truth of what we do in our obedience, in our humble obedience unto God, in loving God and loving others, and when we act thereof, it always trusts the results of that obedience to God's sovereign will and grace. This is an important part. It trusts in God's will and God's grace. David poured out the water, he refused to drink. And those men, it says they were silent. They didn't say, oh, we risked our lives for that water. They didn't say that. It doesn't say what they said. Maybe they were even thinking of it because they're corrupt human beings just like you and me, descendants of fallen Adam. Maybe they did think that. But God thought not to include it so that by its omission we could see the truth that the results are in his hands. Those guys didn't rise up and say, oh, David, man, we risked our lives. We went behind Philistine battle lines into your hometown to get you water and you just pour it out. Shame on you. Well, let's turn that around now. Jesus, who is eternal God, becomes man, comes to earth, goes to the cross, and some people aren't saved, they reject this truth. Well, you know what, Father, I'm not gonna go because some people, I recognize since I'm God and I can see that there are people that are not gonna be saved by me, I'm not gonna go to the cross then. What use is it? because he trusted the results in his father's hands. All those whom he, as it says in John 17, Jesus prayed that all those you gave me, I have not lost the one and he won't lose a single one. We are obedient unto God. Oh God, I was obedient and look what happened. I was persecuted anyway. Does that mean, does that justify now your disobedience from that point on? No. We're here to be obedient and put the results in His hands and trust Him for that. Otherwise, we become false Christians. Because true Christianity is not pragmatic. It's not results-oriented. It's not results-driven. It's not about the results. Those are in God's hands. We have a holy reverence to follow Christ. And the Greek word, when Jesus says, follow me, there's a Greek word that's used is akalotheo. It means to follow in the same way. It means to be like. It means to not deviate from, as far as being on the road or on the path. That actually, in following him and understanding that, Greek word presents a blessedness there. See, David's behavior exemplifies Christ in the three things. And this is where, now I changed it around in my notes. It exemplifies Christ in three things. First, it exhibits Christ's unselfishness. In Mark chapter 10, verse 45, Jesus says, for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Others, as I mentioned before, others do not exist to serve us, but in serving one another, God may be glorified. Others do not exist to serve us, but in serving one another, God may be glorified by our service. The second thing that it expresses in David pouring this out, it shows a holy reverence in his following Christ. It expresses Christ's humility. David gave his men's sacrifice to the Lord, we see in the passage, to whom it belonged. As Proverbs 15, verse 33 tells us, humility comes before honor. They were empowered. They were enabled, they were successful by God's grace. And therefore, how can we not be humbled by this truth of the thing that God had given us? See, when we are obedient, as Brother Mike mentioned a little earlier when we were worshiping, he says that God gives us the commandments. He gives them to us to be a blessing for us. It keeps us. focused upon God in Christ that keeps us from moving to the left or to the right, which is dangerous for us in our spiritual health. But in its humility and in its humbling truth, we recognize that that God is who gave us a command, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up. It's an impossible command because every time we try to be humble, we're actually working against humility. But when the truth of denying self, taking up the cross and following Christ, to be like Christ as His Spirit ministers to us and through us, It's worked out so that humility becomes a foregone conclusion. We see Christ and the sight of Christ humbles us. And so every action becomes a humble expression of even Christ's humility who, I quoted Philippians chapter two, who humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross. And finally, in following Christ and being an example of Christ, as David pours out the drink offering, he esteems the value of human life. They went in to sacrifice. And as Jesus said in Luke 12, verse 24, consider the ravens, they neither sow nor reap. They have neither storehouses nor barns, and yet God feeds them. How much more value are you than the birds? And so when David pours this out, he is showing us and reflecting to us, showing to those men, you're valuable. I can't lose one of you, not because you're just mighty men and I need you for my war-making outfit. It's because you're made in the image and after the likeness of Jehovah God, and that you are much more valuable than any of His creation. And I value you as such. It esteems the value of human life. And we saw a little bit of that last week, too, with the valiant men that went in and took Saul's body and the bodies of his sons, Jonathan and the others. Have you not lived up to this? Maybe you haven't understood some of it. But what you have understood, is there something there and you say, I haven't lived up to this. Remember that repentance is a grace. It's a grace of God and it's not a been there, done that, bought the t-shirt one time. I repented long ago, I don't need to repent again. The best of our prayers need to be repented of because of the corruptions that still remain in our mortal flesh. And it's a grace that accompanies faith. Oh Lord, look at how I failed. Day by day, moment by moment. You know how many times have you repented in a day over things that have gone on? Many times. that blessedness of repentance, a continued grace. Are you a David? Are you a mighty man? No, I haven't lived up to that. Then God has given you the grace of repentance if you are a believer. And you can repent and say, Lord, make me more like David and make me more like the mighty man. And as you're making me more like them, since you are making them like Christ and you're making me like Christ, well, let me just bypass the middleman. Make me more like Jesus. I repent of those things. And as they were an example, pointing us to Jesus, make me more like Jesus. I repent of those things. And if you're an unbeliever, or maybe even a believer and you haven't heard this before, or it's been a long time since you heard it, what is repentance? Repentance is turning from the thing that you love, which is against God, and turning to Christ, whom you were rejecting or loving something equal to Him or greater than Him. Repentance is turning from those things that oppose Christ and turning unto Christ. That's what repentance is. Let's pray. Our most blessed and gracious Father in God, we love you and thank you and pray that your word will not return unto us void. And if I blathered off a confusing message, Lord. I took my notes and turned them all around. I pray that we were to get something from this, because Christ is everything, and if Christ is not everything, he is nothing. And make Christ everything for us, that we may glorify you through his exaltation. In Jesus' name and for his sake, we do pray, amen.