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OK. If you would stand, we'll sing song 419. Sound the battle cry, see the foe is nigh. Raise the standard high for the Lord. Gird your armor on, stand firm everyone. Rest your calls upon his holy word. Rouse then soldiers, rally round the banner. Ready, steady, pass the word along. Onward, forward, shout aloud Hosanna. Christ is captain of the mighty throng. Strong to meet the foe, marching on we go. While our cause we know must prevail. Shield and banner bright, gleaming in the light. Battling for the right, we ne'er can fail. Rouse then soldiers, rally round the banner. Ready, steady, pass the word along. Onward, forward, shout aloud Hosanna. Christ is captain of the mighty throng. Oh, thou God of all, hear us when we call. Help us one and all by thy grace. When the battle's done and the victory's won, may we wear the crown before thy face. Rouse then soldiers, rally round the banner. Ready, steady, pass the word along. Onward, forward, shout aloud Hosanna. Christ is captain of the mighty throng. Let's pray, heavenly Father, Lord, again, we just want to thank you, God, for another night. Let me get to gather and hear your word preached. I pray, Lord, now that you would just be with our pastor, fill him with the power and spirit. We love you, for it's in Jesus' name, let's call it, but amen. Oh, you may be seated and turn in your song books to song 375. 375. We'll sing Work for the Night is Coming. Song 375. Work for the night is coming. Work through the morning hours. Work while the dew is sparkling. Work med springing flowers. Work when the day grows brighter. Work in the glowing sun. Work for the night is coming when man's work is done. Work for the night is coming. Work through the sunny noon. Fill brightest hours with labor. Rest comes sure and soon. Give every flying man and something to keep in store. Work for the night is coming when man works no more. Work for the night is coming under the sunset skies while their bright tents are glowing. Work for daylight flies. Work till the last beam fadeth. Faded to shine no more. Work while the night is darkening when man's work is o'er. Amen. Welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening. Just some announcements here. As far as the service times this week, everything should be normal. Tonight we are going into 2 Samuel and really it's just kind of continuing on to the story. So it's really kind of just nothing really new, but we'll be in 2 Samuel 1 tonight and plan on going through the whole book there. And then as far as the service times, soul wanting and everything this week, I know that obviously all the men that are on the list that lead these up are out on the missions field, which they're doing, seems to be doing great out there. So I watched a video where brother Richie was giving the gospel to a whole classroom out there in India. And so definitely a lot of salvations. So just be in prayer for them and Belize as well. They're doing great out there. So just pray for their safety, safe travels, all of that. And then I'm sure the next week there may be a little bit of sabbatical there after being gone for a week. And so next week may still be kind of up in the air as far as who's leading that up on the regional times there. But our Sunday afternoon one will be normal and all of that. What are you doing James? So prayer meetings are on the list there. We have a prayer list here. And this basically is a prayer list on just names of everybody in the church. So this is really cool to just have, I believe it's on the soul wanting table back there. Right? So, but what's really cool, but it's also just a nice way to remember all the people in the church, names, stuff like that. I'm really excited about this because it has all the kids names on here. So a lot of the kids, I know their names, but then there's like some kids I'm like, after the third child, I'm like, I don't remember. Especially with the newborns too, I'm like, not sure. So it's a good way to try to remember all those names, but also just to be in prayer for all the families in our church. So grab yourself a list there and it's something that you can just keep with you throughout the week and all that. So, and then soul winning marathons, we do have the Nitro Soul Winning Marathon, April 27th. But Jim's leading that one up. And then May 25th, the Lancaster PA Soul Winning Marathon. And so that'll be, I'm excited for that one. I think that'll be cool. So they're always cool, right? But sometimes it's cool to just like, when you're going to a certain area and hitting a certain group of people just to see how it goes. And then chapter three of Jonah is our memory chapter for the month. I mean, this is like just prophetic, isn't it? That we're memorizing the book of Jonah and that the sign of the prophet Jonah just happened on Monday. And so you're welcome. If you're ever like, well, is the Lord leading? Is the spirit leading Pastor Robinson? I didn't even know about all this stuff. It just came to me. So all joking aside, obviously, we're memorizing the book of Jonah. And so Jonah chapter three, I gotta say this because I watched this video and this person literally said that in Jonah chapter three, the reason that the sign of the prophet Jonah is because there was darkness on the day that Jonah preached. And it was like, he said it so confidently. I'm like, did I miss that? Did I miss that in Jonah chapter three? And no, I didn't miss it. It's just not there. And they're like, well, on this calendar day, it's like, where does it anywhere suggest what day he was there? And people spout this stuff out and I'm just like, no one's fact checking that. No one's like looking at Jonah chapter three or Jonah in general to see that. It's just all made up. So anyway, this is living rent free in my mind. Thanks, thanks for that, Dave, for that. So it's all your fault, by the way. Matthew chapter 24 and verse four, speaking of which, Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. And then the pregnancy list there, be in prayer for Crystal McCloy on the pregnancy list there, be in prayer for all the ladies that just had the little ones. Again, be in prayer for all those that are traveling, those that are on the missions field right now. Pray for safety, pray for many souls to be saved, but praise the Lord for all the work that's been done so far and just pray for all those that are out there. That's all I have for announcements. The offering box is in the back there if you wanna give a tithe and an offering. One of the baby rooms for the mothers and babies only. Brother Anthony's gonna be reading 2 Samuel. I gotta make sure I say second. 2 Samuel chapter one. And then, but that's after we do one more song. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song number 41. Song number 41 in your songbooks. We'll sing Sweet Bye and Bye. Song number 41. There's a land that is fairer than day and by faith we can see it afar for the Father waits over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there. In the sweet bye and bye we shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet bye and bye we shall meet on that beautiful shore. We shall sing on that beautiful shore. The melodious songs of the blast and our spirit shall sorrow no more. Not a sigh for a blessing of rest. In the sweet bye and bye we shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet bye and bye we shall meet on that beautiful shore to our bountiful Father above. We will offer our tribute of praise for the glorious gift of his love and the blessings that hollow our days. In the sweet bye and bye we shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet bye and bye we shall meet on that beautiful shore. All right, take your Bibles and turn to the book of 2 Samuel chapter one. 2 Samuel chapter one in your Bibles. We'll have brother Anthony come and read that for us. The Bible reads, now it came to pass after the death of Saul when David was returned from the slaughter of the Malachites and David had abode two days in Ziklag. And it came to pass on the third day that behold a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent and earth upon his head. And so it was when he came to David that he fell to the earth and did obedience, obeisance. And David said unto him, from whence comest thou? And he said unto him, out of the camp of Israel am I escaped? And David said unto him, how went the matter? I prayed thee, tell me. And he answered that the people are fled from the battle and many of the people also are fallen and dead and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also. And David said unto the young man that told him, how knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead? And the young man that told him said, as I happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa, behold Saul leaned upon his spear and lo the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him and when he looked behind him, he saw me and called unto me and I answered, here am I. And he said unto me, who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. And he said unto me again, stand I pray thee upon me and slay me for an anguish has come upon me because my life is yet whole in me. So I stood upon him and slew him because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen and I took the crown that was upon his head and the bracelet that was on his arm and have brought them hither unto my Lord. Then David took hold on his clothes and rent them and likewise all the men that were with him and they mourned and wept and fasted until even for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel because they were fallen by the sword. And David said unto the young man that told him, whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger and Amalekite. And David said unto him, how was thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? And David called one of the young men and said, go near and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, thy blood be upon thy head for thy mouth hath testified against thee saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed. And David lamented with his lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son. Also he bade them teach the children of Judah to use the use of the bow. Behold, it is written in the book of Jasher. The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places. How are the mighty fallen? Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you nor fields of offerings. For there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul as though he had not been anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in scarlet with other delights who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle? Oh Jonathan, thou was slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been unto me. Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perish? Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for your word and thank you for this night where we can gather, continue to study from it. Pray it should be Pastor Robinson filled with the Holy Spirit and help us all to be edified. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. So you're there in 2 Samuel chapter one and this really is just coming right out of the battle where Saul and his sons died in battle and so this is really just after the death of Saul and notice what it says here in verse one because now we're getting into David being, where David's at, David hearing the news about what happened. In verse one it says, now it came to pass after the death of Saul when David was returned from the slaughter of the Malachites and David had abode two days in Ziklag. So he's in Ziklag, if you remember the story before all this stuff happened, he was supposed to be in the battle against Israel but the lords of the Philistines didn't want David to go with them, understandably so and they end up coming back and all their wives and children were taken captive by the Malachites and so that story is where David and his men actually go and they get all their wives, their children and everything back and they go back to Ziklag, right? And so this is, he's two days back in Ziklag after all that stuff happened and on the third day, this is when, the thing that I want you to kind of see there is that it clearly states after the slaughter of the Malachites and the man that's gonna come up to David to give him this news is an Malachite. So I don't think that's a coincidence that it, especially since it's worded that way you need to say, hey, he's got done slaughtering a bunch of Malachites and then there's this, a Malachite that's coming into this picture. Now this passage that we're reading here is one of those things where people try to say this is a contradiction in the Bible and all that stuff, there's no contradiction. Actually, this is a very good lesson to learn as far as understanding how to interpret what is, what's clearly stated as true or what's just stated as what someone says, okay? And this is something that you need to know when you're reading through the Bible that sometimes what people say aren't true or it's not factual, but it's true that they said it and so that's where it comes into the fact that it's God's word, it's without error. So it's true that they said it but it's not true that it happened, okay? And so this is a great example of that and I just wanna, we'll go through this. Now it says in verse two, it says, and it came to pass, I'm sorry, and it came even to pass on the third day that behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent and earth upon his head. And so it was when he came to David that he fell to the earth and did obeisance. And David said unto him, from whence comest thou? And he said unto him, out of the camp of Israel am I escaped? And David said unto him, how went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, that the people are fled from the battle and many of the people also are fallen and dead and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also. And David said unto the young man that told him, how knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead? So basically he's hearing this news for the first time and he's like, how do you know that? It's kinda like, are you sure? Are you for sure that that's the case, right? And it says in verse six, and the young man that told him said, as I happened by chance, now I want you to notice this, okay? What's being said here? The young man that told him said, okay? So who's speaking here, is it the narrator or is it the young man that's speaking, okay? And it's the young man that's speaking here and in verse six there it says, as I happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon a spear and lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him and when he looked behind him, he saw me and called unto me and I answered, here am I. And he said unto me, who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. And he said unto me again, stand, I pray thee, upon me and slay me for anguish has come upon me because my life is yet whole in me. So I stood upon him and slew him because I was sure that he could know, he could not live after that he was fallen and I took the crown that was upon his head and the bracelet that was on his arm and I have brought them hither unto my Lord. So know this is that everything that he said is what he's saying, right? That doesn't mean it's true, okay? And so what it comes down to is that, okay, well, did Saul kill himself? Did he fall on his own sword or did this Amalekite come by and actually do that, right? And so it's some supposed contradiction or whatever but it's not a contradiction. It's just the fact that this guy is telling David that's what happened. Now obviously he was there where Saul was dead, right? That's for sure true because he's literally bringing his crown and his bracelet and he's bringing all this stuff to him and for him to even know any information about Saul being dead. Obviously, it's probably true that he was there. The thing that's not true is that he actually is the one that killed Saul, okay? Now I'm gonna show you obviously in chapter 31 that it's the narrator saying this is what happened. So therefore you can take that to the bank, it's fact, okay? But I want you to see here and go to chapter four. So you're in 2 Samuel 1, go to chapter four because this story is kind of recounted because what's going on here is that the Samalekite thinks he's gonna be rewarded. What he thinks is that, well, this is David's enemy and if I come saying I killed your enemy, he's gonna be like, I'm gonna be in good graces with David. Well, something very similar happens which we'll get to obviously in the chapter four where Ish-bosheth which is basically, he's basically reigning in Saul's stead and what we'll see is that David doesn't just get control of the whole kingdom all at once, he gets Judah and then he's gotta basically fight the battles to get the rest of the kingdom. And Ish-bosheth is basically in a king over that portion of Israel at the time. But basically they kill Ish-bosheth, okay? And in verse eight here, spoiler, okay? But in verse eight here it says, And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto David to Hebron and said to the king, behold, the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, thine enemy, which sought thy life and the Lord hath avenged my Lord the king this day of Saul and of his seed. And David answered Rekab and Baanah, his brother, the sons of Rimmon, the Barathite, and said unto them, as the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, notice this, when one told me, saying, behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him reward for his tidings. So now we get more information about it that David knew, he's not even, David's not even saying, like, I don't think he's even saying, like, he believes what that guy did. He's just saying that this guy came thinking he's going to get a reward for his tidings, that he's going to get rewarded for killing Saul. And it says, how much more when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed, shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand and take you away from the earth and David commanded his young men and they slew them and cut off their hands and their feet and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron and they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and they remarried it in the sepulchre of Abner and Hebron. So it's kind of the same thing that happens to this Amalekite in this story, but he's kind of becomes a proverb, like, you're doing the same thing, you think that you're going to be rewarded for this, but you killed a righteous man in his bed, right? That's not how this is to go down, this was the wrong way to go about it. And David, throughout the book of 1 Samuel, is not willing to kill the king, not willing to kill the Lord's anointed, and then it's Amalekite, it's like, I killed the Lord's anointed, you know, and that's the whole thing, is that David's like, how are you not afraid to do that? And, but when you're dealing with that story, it's clear that this guy is just, he's trying to get rewards and he ends up dying for it, even though he didn't actually even do the act that he said he did, because, go to 1 Samuel 31, because let's see what the Bible says, what the narrator says here, okay? And again, when you're reading through books that are stories, what you have to understand is that just because someone's doing something or saying something doesn't make it right. Now, here's when you know it's right if they're saying something, if it's the Lord, right? When Jesus says something, obviously it's right. Does that make sense? Like, there's no question. Or if it says, you know, being full of the Holy Ghost, he prophesied and said this, right? Well, it's okay, well, yeah, you know, at that point, he's speaking about the Holy Ghost. When you're reading the Psalms, that's all narration. It's not a story, it's a narration, and so everything that's stated there is right. Same with the Proverbs, right? But when you're dealing with storybooks, right, when you're dealing, like Job is a great example of this, right? When his three friends are speaking, you can't just take it to the bank, everything they're saying is right. Actually, God says that they did not speak right concerning him, so it's very clear that they didn't say that which was right. When the devil's speaking in the Bible, you can't take that to the bank as being true because obviously he's a liar and the father of it. So when the narrator of the Bible, whatever book it is, when the narrator's speaking and it says, the narrator says they went to this place or they saw this person or whatever the case may be, take it to the bank, that's right. That's 100% accurate, okay? And so, but if it says, and so and so said, or so and, you know, if they said this, you know, and it's talking about what they said, that doesn't make it true. Or if it says so and so did this, well, that doesn't mean it's right, okay? It's just the Bible's stating they did this, right? It's like David committed adultery with Bathsheba, but it's not right, but it's true that he did it. It's 100% true that he did it and the Bible's telling us that, but it doesn't validate it as being right, okay? So that's where this is a very important lesson to know and this is back to back. It's like literally one chapter after another and it's like when people go to Proverbs 26 and they're like, there's a contradiction in Proverbs 26. The verses are literally back to back and it's like, answer not a man according to his folly or answer a man according to his folly. It's like, they're literally back to back. They were there, that was on purpose, okay? It's not like, well, I was over here and then thousands of years later, it said it over here and it's a contradiction and they messed up. No, it's back to back because there's a time to answer somebody and there's a time not to answer somebody, that's why. There's a time to speak and there's a time to keep silence and you need to know the discernment of when to do it, okay, and so, but in 1 Samuel 31 in verse three here, it says, and the battle went sore against Saul and the archers hit him and he was sore wounded of the archers, 100% fact, okay? The narrator speaking here, he got hit by archers, so he got hit by an arrow, right, at least one, and he's sorely wounded, right? It says, then said Saul unto his armor-bearer, draw thy sword and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me, okay? But his armor-bearer would not, for he was sore afraid. Therefore, Saul took a sword and fell upon it. Did it say he took a spear and fell upon it? No, it didn't, okay? This is 100% fact, the narrator speaking, he took a sword and fell upon it. What did the Amalekites say? He was leaning upon his spear, okay? And it doesn't say that he was leaning on it like he was trying to kill himself with it, it just says he was leaning upon his spear, right? So, it basically, he's basically saying he came to him and he like knew he couldn't live, so he killed him, right, which obviously Saul was sore wounded that he, you know, was basically like, you know, he was wanting to basically die so that the Philistines don't come at him. But he fell on a sword, not a spear. And then it says, this is the important fact here. When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword and died with him. You know what that means? Is that he died by falling on his own sword and his armor-bearer saw that he was dead. It doesn't say that his armor-bearer said that he was dead. It says that he saw that he was dead, okay? That means the narrator's saying, he was dead, you know? And then the armor-bearer killed himself, okay? So, that's fact. And it says, so Saul died and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men that same day together. Guess what? No mention of this Amalekite because he wasn't there when this happened. But the Amalekite came by later and Saul, obviously Saul and Jonathan dead and made up this story that he's the one that killed him, right? It's kinda like coming back, he just stabs him and be like, I killed him, guys. You know, it's like he was already dead. And he's trying to take credit for killing David's enemy. And he ends up losing his life for that. Because notice David's response. Go to 2 Samuel chapter one. And I definitely did not paste the right portion of that. This happens a lot, actually, when I'm writing sermons. For whatever reason, my copy paste, you know how you do control C on my E sword? Doesn't work very well. And I'll end up pasting the same thing over and over again. You don't really need to know that, but that's just the matter of the fact is that this happens a lot in my notes. And I'm like, that is the same passage. So, which verse am I on? Good thing I had the Bible right in front of me here so I can actually go to the passage. In verse, I think 11, actually. So yeah, verse 11, it says, then David took hold on his clothes and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until even. For Saul and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword. And David said unto the young man that told him, whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger and a malachite. And David said unto him, how was thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? And David called one of the young men, and said, go near and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, thy blood be upon thy head, for it notices, thy mouth has testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed. Okay, I want that to be very clear. He doesn't even have to, he's not even saying like, you did it, you're saying you did it, okay? And this is a very important point in the fact of how your words can condemn you. Meaning this that you don't even do the act, but your words can condemn you. Now, this is what it says, go to Matthew chapter 12, Matthew chapter 12. And Matthew chapter 12 says this in verse 36, Matthew 12, verse 36. It says, but I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words, thou shalt be justified, and by thy words, thou shalt be condemned. And isn't that the truth of this guy? By his words, he was condemned. It wasn't even his actions, because he didn't actually do that. He didn't actually kill the Lord's anointed, but he said he did, and he ends up dying for it. This also goes into being a false witness, which obviously he's being a false witness, right? He's falsely testifying of what happened. But go to Deuteronomy chapter 19. This is something that, dealing with perjury, okay? We would use the term perjury, and obviously the Bible even uses the term like a perjured person, which is someone that's basically bearing false witness, specifically in a trial or a judgment case or something like that. And Deuteronomy 19, verse 15, I want you to see, this isn't like outside the law of being punished for something that you didn't do, meaning like you're being punished with a punishment. And this is where lying, listen, lying obviously isn't, there's different levels of sin, there's different types of sins and all that stuff, but lying, you can get the death penalty for lying. And this is a case where you can't. And in the case of the Amalekite, he got the death penalty. And it's something that I believe this needs to be in our judicial system, because this runs rampant where people lie and bear false witness and have no repercussions. And notice what it says here in Deuteronomy 19, verse 15. It says, one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin and any sin that he sinneth at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. And obviously this is the New Testament thing, right? That we're at the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. So this isn't something that's just Old Testament, this is something that this should be the case today. In verse 16, if a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong, then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before the Lord before the priest and the judges which shall be in those days. Now, what you have to understand is that this could be anything from stealing something to murder. So let's say someone, someone's bringing a false witness saying, I saw that person murder somebody, okay? And or I saw that person steal something or whatever the case may be. And you're making this false accusation or you're making this false witness or testimony to what you saw. And basically it says here in verse 18, and the judges shall make diligent inquisition. So basically they're figuring this out. Like, is this true? Did he really see this? Does this person really do this, right? It says, and behold, if the witness be a false witness and had testified falsely against his brother, so they find out this guy's lying, okay? It says, then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother. So shalt thou put the evil away from among you. You say, well, how far do you take that? You know, as far as that, you know, getting the same punishment that would have been thought unto them. Well, keep reading. He says, and those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. And I shall not pity, but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. So if the punishment was that you're gonna be put to death and that person was the one bearing false witness, guess what their punishment is? Death. Obviously if it was something like, okay, restitution, let's say you accuse somebody of stealing something. Well, the death penalty is not on that unless you're stealing a person, okay? If you steal a person and you like have a slave that you just stole, then yes, death penalty. But if you steal like someone's ox or their goat or something like that, then you have to pay back like fourfold, fivefold, and guess what? The person that's bearing false witness against you, they get your punishment that you would have gotten if you had done it, okay? That is justice right there. And that's a case right here where they're making, he's making a false accusation and he's being condemned by his words even though he didn't commit that act, right? And so this is a very important detail when it comes to lying, when it comes to bearing false witness, that it can be a very serious offense. Think about the fact of just when people lie about you and how it defames your character, right? And we have laws of defamation and libel and all that stuff as far as that goes. But that's a serious thing. And you know what? Our laws, like to prove defamation, is really hard to do. Because you have to prove intent, you gotta do all this stuff, right? But the repercussions of defaming somebody can ruin someone's career, it can ruin their whole name for the rest of their life and this happens all the time in America where someone's accused of rape and they didn't actually rape anybody. But now they're just known as that and most people think that that person still did it even though they've been acquitted. And that type of stuff happens all the time. And you know what? The repercussions of that is that person that made the false accusation should get the same penalty as if that person were guilty. And yes, I'm talking about women that are falsely accusing men of rape. They should be getting the prison sentence or whatever the sentence is for falsely accusing that guy. And same thing with any other case where someone's lying about someone doing something. Obviously a rapist should be put to death, right? I mean that should be the penalty. So in that case, a woman falsely accuses a man of rape and the death penalty was on the table, then she should be getting that. And you know what? You say well that's harsh. Well you know what the Bible says? Then people will see and fear and not commit such evil. You know what? People wouldn't be lying as much, would they? If that was the penalty. But here's the problem. They're basically immune of any type of punishment when it comes to that. Like no punishment, just like oh whatever, I guess they didn't do that. But no punishment at all for the people that are doing that. That is injustice at its best. And here's the thing. Obviously the perfect law of liberty has it right. The more you read through God's laws, the more you realize how perfect it is and how just it is and how if we had those type of laws implemented in our country, how much better our country would be. And listen, a lot of those laws used to be in our country and they just keep purging them out and you wonder why our country keeps falling apart. And so going back to 2 Samuel chapter one, we have a lamentation that David laments for Saul and Jonathan. And so what you have to understand is that obviously Jonathan, he's very close to Jonathan. So you can definitely understand him mourning for Jonathan but I believe he's sincere in lamenting for Saul. It doesn't say anything in here about him just like well, he's kind of just including Saul into that. And obviously he has some things to say about Jonathan above and beyond because they were good friends and obviously I'm sure he was closer to Jonathan than he was to Saul anyway, even if they were on good terms. But in verse 17 it says, And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son. Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow. Behold, it is written in the book of Jasher. It's interesting, well, one, just note this is that the book of Jasher is not supposed to be in the Bible. Just as much as the book of the prophet Edo or the book of the wars of the Lord and all these different things. Did those books exist? I guarantee it, right? I mean, or I wouldn't have said that those books were out there. But what you have to understand is that just because the Bible references some book doesn't mean that it's Bible, that it's scripture, okay? And so, but also the thing that I note here is that Jonathan is known to shoot a bow, right? I mean, we have the story obviously where he's shooting the bow and that's how he tells David the message and everything. And so it's interesting that basically Jonathan dies and he's basically saying, we need to teach people how to do what Jonathan did. It's like someone needs to pick up the mantle of Jonathan and that skill that's there, being an archer. It's interesting that Saul was basically taken out by archers and all of that. But also when you think about Benjamin, Benjamin is known for basically that type of skill of either casting stones or shooting arrows. And a lot of times they'll talk about them being left-handed or ambidextrous. That doesn't use that term, ambidextrous, but basically says they can shoot a bow with either the left hand or the right hand. And Benjamin's kind of known for that. Now Saul's of Benjamin and obviously Jonathan would be too. It's just interesting how that tribe just kind of has that kind of knack that's built into their tribe. And I don't believe it's genetic. I think it's just that's kind of like their cultural thing, right? They're all about shooting bow and arrows, right? Whereas maybe over here, this tribe's more about swordplay or whatever. So just an interesting aspect there that David is kind of like, he's wanting to continue on something that Jonathan did. And kind of pointing out like, hey, that's needful. That skill that Jonathan had, that's a needful thing. We don't have it anymore, right? It's kind of like we've lost, and this whole lamentation is we've lost mighty men. The mighty have fallen and we need those to pick up the mantle, right? We've lost a lot of good guys, like a lot of good fighters. I mean, Jonathan was a great, valiant man. I mean, we read the story where he takes out that garrison of the Philistines and basically the earth shook because of that battle and the fear that he instilled on them. And so this is obviously, he's kind of bringing up these points because of who is lost. It says, the beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places. How are the mighty fallen? Tell it not in Gath. Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon. Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. So obviously Gath, Ashkelon, those are Philistine cities, right? So basically like don't let it be told or anything like that. Now we know that obviously their bodies were put on display and obviously the men of Jabesh Gilead came in and got those bodies back, right? But anyway, going on from that, it says in verse 21, it says, ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings, for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul as though he had not been anointed with oil. And so it's basically stating like, let that place be desolate. You know, it's kind of like this place is just kind of like an abomination to them, you know, about where they died. And then it goes on to say, verse 22, from the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death, they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions. Now I want you to think about this, okay? Saul did some pretty bad things and Saul was literally up to his death pretty much wanting to kill David. But I want you to notice that David isn't taking this opportunity to take shots at Saul and be like, he got what he deserved or even take shots at his life. He's basically bringing up everything is good about Saul. And this is something to note too, you know, when it comes to, which I'm gonna be getting to as far as even if someone's not, like someone's an enemy of yours, like when something bad happens to them, it's not a time to just take shots at them. And I'm obviously talking about your personal enemies or people that maybe you just don't like or they don't like you for whatever reason. You know, this is, it's not a time, you know, especially if they died. If they died, you know, you don't go to the funeral and be like, yeah, they got what they deserve. You know, they, you know, we're talking about a saved man here, okay? Saul is a saved man and basically if you were to think about this as like a eulogy where you're basically talking about this person's life, you know what you bring up? Good things, okay? So I don't, you know, I've only done, I haven't done that many funerals, but I'll say this, I never get up in a funeral and just start trash talking the person that just died. You know, I'm always, you wanna bring up like things they did that was good, things that you can remember, like the good things, right? You don't wanna bring up all the bad stuff and just bring that up to everybody and be like, hey, you know, this guy was rotten, you know, this person did me wrong and this is my last time, my last chance to say it in front of everybody while he's there in the casket. You know, it's like, it's obviously a time where you should be reflecting on the good things that they did, okay? And so it says in verse 24, you daughters of Israel weep over Saul who clothed you in scarlet with other delights who put on ornaments of gold upon your peril. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle? Oh, Jonathan, thou was slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been unto me. Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished? Which weapon of war perished kind of goes into the idea of like, this is why he's saying, hey, you need to learn the bow. You know, you need to learn these skills and all of that because we've lost the mighty men, we've lost, basically, it's not about the weapons as much as about the people that were able to use the weapons and were skillful in those weapons. And he's basically saying, hey, we've lost these men. We need other men that are gonna pick up the mantle. But obviously this passage here deals with David's love for Jonathan and the fact that it says that his love was wonderful to him, but it passed the love of women. And people obviously are perverted and they take this like some unnatural way, but ultimately what he's stating is that Jonathan was his best friend and he's basically saying that basically the love that they have for each other as far as basically loyalty to each other passed the love of women. Now, when you look at David's life, is that like a far-fetched thing to think about? Okay, I'm not saying it should be that way, okay? I just want you to think about reality of David's life and his wives and then tell me that that actually makes sense, that he had a closer like loyal relationship. Basically he's like, if anybody's gonna be there to like die for me, it's gonna be Jonathan over his wife, right? Because, I mean, he commits adultery on his wives later on in this book. And so obviously he doesn't have, it's not like Abraham and Sarah, right? Or like Isaac and Rebecca, where you kinda have like this, like you would say like they're like, hey, they got a bond there. But then you get into these cases where they have multiple wives and you're like, do you think, for example, like if you look at Jacob and Zilpah, right? I would say she's lowest on the totem pole because she's Leah's handmade, right? And it's just like two strikes are out, right? Leah's not the one that he wanted and it's her handmade, right? But think about this. He might have had a little more love for, he probably had more love for his son Joseph than he did for Zilpah, okay? And nothing to knock her. I mean, maybe she was a great woman of God, all that. But at the same time, you can definitely see how that can apply, especially when you have multiple wives. And it doesn't seem like David is like, you know how Solomon has that one spouse that he writes about in the Song of Solomon? He kinda has that one that's just like kind of above the rest. I don't see that one with David. Do you see one where it's just like above the rest? I mean, Abigail's obviously a great woman, but Michael had her high points, Mike Hall, you know Michael, Mike Hall had her high points when she saved David. But do you really see one that's just like where it's like my sister, my spouse, my beloved, and you just see that with David? I don't see that, okay? And so when you see this, when you get obviously the perverted garbage that the world is trying to say that David and Jonathan had some homo relationship or something like that, when you get that out of your mind and you just realize, hey, men can have love for one another, and that love can actually surpass the love of women when you don't have a good relationship with your wife. Now I believe that you should, that you should be closer with your wife than any other person, okay? I believe that is the way it should be, right? You're one flesh with your wife. I mean, that love should be above everything else, right? It's not always the case though. And what you have to understand is that just because that's the case with Jonathan and David doesn't mean that's the way it should have been, right? It doesn't mean that's the ideal situation. But it also shows you that, hey, they had a strong love for one another and that they were willing to die for one another. And that's really getting down to brass tacks. And obviously the Bible says that we should lay down our lives for our wives, right? So we should have that attitude towards our wives, but obviously David had some issues in that area, okay? Which also shows you a man after God's been harmed, he's perfect and following the Lord. And David is the sweet psalmist of Israel. And he spake, you know, he was the tongue. He says, my tongue is the pen of a ready writer and that he, you know, the Holy Ghost spake by the mouth of David. He has problems though, right? He's a human being like everybody else. And he has issues. And marital issues were one of his downfalls, okay? I mean, that's one of the big things that he does. And Solomon, it's not a marvel that Solomon struggled with that even more because the sins of the fathers tend to go down to the children. And so if you have a good relationship with your wife and your children see that, they tend to be more likely to have a good relationship with their spouse going down the line. But it's no marvel when you see divorced parents with their children and then their children end up getting divorced and it goes down the line. It's not just like smoking or things like that. It's like you tend to do what your parents do. You tend to basically go down that same path. It's not always the case, but it's just like you have to basically, you're putting your kids in a rut and it's making it harder for them to get out of that rut, essentially, okay? But the thing that I wanted to kind of hit on here when it comes to this lamentation is the idea that David is a great example of loving his enemy, okay? And when his enemy fell, okay? Meaning this is that he refused to kill Saul and he even states that, well, the Lord will, basically, he'll descend into battle and he'll die. The Lord will kill him, something will happen. And he's basically putting it on the Lord's hand to avenge him of his enemy. But even when his enemy dies, he doesn't revel in it. He doesn't rejoice. Actually, lamenting, I don't know if you know this, but lamenting is the opposite of rejoicing, okay? Lamenting is basically being sorrowful or being sad, okay? There's a whole book called Lamentations. Read that book and tell me it's about a happy story, okay? It's about weeping, crying, sorrow, right? Go to Proverbs chapter 17, Proverbs chapter 17. And specifically, I'm talking about Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ that you are not friends with or that maybe you would consider an enemy, okay? Meaning that you don't like them, you don't like being around them, all that stuff. That exists. That there are Christian people, there's believers out there that I don't particularly like, but they're still my brother in Christ, okay? Or maybe they don't like me. Whatever the case may be, okay? But here's the thing. I don't want something horrible to happen to them. Even if they hate my ever-living guts. Even if they're not right with God and they hate me, right? Because you should never hate a brother in Christ. But there are people out there that are saved, that are believers, that can be your enemy. And Saul and David's a great example of this. Both believers, they're both anointed, right? But obviously, Saul's in the wrong. He's not doing what he should be doing. And David doesn't hate Saul. He refuses to kill Saul. He refuses to take vengeance into his own hands. And when Saul finally eats it, essentially, he doesn't rejoice over it. He actually mourns it. Because Saul, if you think about it, Saul is a tragedy. Saul's life is a tragedy. Because it starts off great. He had such potential. He was a great man of God. And then it just all fell apart. And it just went spiraling downhill to where he ends up taking his own life. That's a tragedy. And David looks at it that way. As far as instead of being like, well, about time, and just rejoicing over the, finally, I don't have to worry about fleeing from Saul. In Proverbs 17, verse five, it says, Whoso mocketh the poor reproaches his Maker. And he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. Listen, we ought not to just be happy when people, when bad things happen to people. It's kind of like one of those things, when you see someone fall over, it's funny if you know they didn't really get hurt. Like, you're just like, oh, you're okay? That's hilarious. Sometimes these videos, I'm like, that person, I think, died. Like, this isn't funny to watch. You know, like, someone just like, die, you know? And so, but when you see them get up and they're fine and everything, you're just like, that's hilarious. You know, what an idiot, you know? You can laugh at it because they're not really hurt. You know, they're not like seriously injured. But just laughing at calamities and just laughing at, it's kind of like this. If there's a nation that's, let's say, a really wicked nation, and then you see this disaster happen, and then all these people die in it, and you're just like, well, that's what happened. You know, they get what they deserve. And it's like, that's not what we should be rejoicing, we should not be rejoicing over that, okay? Sure, it could be the judgment of God, but you know what? There's innocent people in there. There's people that could've gotten saved. You know, it's not like all the people will reprobate that that happened to. And not gonna be rejoicing over that type of stuff or rejoicing over catastrophes that happened. It's like, okay, listen, California, I don't like California. But you know, when I see those fires, I could say, yeah, I think that's the judgment of God that's coming on, but you know what, it makes me sad that the judgment of God, you know what I'd rather see is them get right with God. I'd rather see California become like a righteous state and see that remnant kind of shine there and that whole state get turned around, okay? And so I'd rather see that than the destruction. Now, if the destruction has to happen, so be it, okay? And what I wanna show you is that there's a time to rejoice over people being punished and there's a time not to, okay? And I think this is a line that sometimes gets blurred and sometimes we don't know like, hey, which way should we go on this, okay? And, but I want you to see that verse. Go to Proverbs chapter 24, Proverbs chapter 24. Proverbs 24 and verse 17. Proverbs 24 and verse 17. It says, rejoice not when thy enemy falleth and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth. Lest the Lord see it and it displease him and he turn away his wrath from him. So this is kind of a warning, like you see your enemy falling and you're just like, yes, he got what he deserved. It's like, be careful because the Lord may come back at you with that because of your attitude towards it, okay? And when it comes to this, it comes down to loving your enemies. Now, people take this too far because they'll be like, well, we need to love those that hate the Lord. It's like, well, obviously there's a cutoff point and that's what I wanna get to is there's a cutoff where we should not be loving those that hate the Lord. But when it comes to our personal enemies, and Saul is a personal enemy of David, no doubt. Is there any doubt that Saul was a personal enemy of David? But was Saul a reprobate? Was he a hater of God? No. So that is a case where the love needs to be there. You're not rejoicing over them falling. Obviously, he got what he deserved, you know what I mean? Like in the end, but in the end, David is mourning over it. He's not happy about it, okay? Go to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12. Now, this is brought up in Proverbs as well, Romans chapter 12 about loving our enemy. And this is where people are like, well, in the Old Testament, we were to hate our enemies and in the New Testament, we need to love our enemies. No, it's always been loving your enemies. Just obviously, there's people that taught we should hate our enemies. And that's why Jesus is bringing it up. You know, we've heard it said of old time. But, Romans chapter 10, or Romans chapter 12 and verse 17, it says, recompense no man evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Basically, half of the book of 1 Samuel is just dealing with the fact of David not avenging himself and basically letting the Lord deal with it and just him getting out of these situations, basically, Saul being his enemy, trying to kill him, and David not taking vengeance into his own hands. That's basically the whole passage there. Then it says, therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head, be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. Meaning this is that, you know, bless them that persecute you. That doesn't mean that they're not gonna be punished for them persecuting you. Does that make sense? Like, they're still accountable for their wicked deeds that they're doing. But the idea here is that we are not the ones to be dishing it out on our enemies, okay? And this can apply, obviously, to unbelievers, because you can have unbelievers that are your enemies. But go to Ezekiel chapter 33, Ezekiel chapter 33. This verse here has been just ripped out of context to try to just basically negate other verses in the Bible. What I want you to understand here is there are verses where it says we're gonna rejoice over people dying, okay? But then there's verses that say don't rejoice over people dying, right? And what you have to understand is both those verses are true and right. What you have to understand is when do they apply? That is what you have to understand, okay? When do they apply? And who do they apply to, okay? And so, instead of just like, just saying nuts to these, right? And what they do with Ezekiel is they say nuts to the rest of the verses where it says all these other things that are contrary. But they'll say, well, chapter 33, so Ezekiel 33 and verse 10, it says, therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, thus ye speak, saying, if our transgressions and our sins be upon us and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, as I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Now, I want you to stop right there for a second. I'm gonna read the rest of that verse because it's important, okay? But what they'll say here is that basically, God doesn't have pleasure in the death of the wicked, so therefore, he never has pleasure in anybody that dies. And you should never rejoice over, he never rejoices over anybody that dies, he's never happy that anybody dies, or anything like that, okay? But in order for you to get that, you'd have to basically just rip this out of context. Okay? Because notice what it says right after that. It says, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? Listen, he doesn't have pleasure in the death of the wicked because he wants them to get right, that's why. That's why he doesn't have pleasure in the death of the wicked. He doesn't want them to die, he wants them to get right. But here's the thing, those that hate the Lord can't get right. This passage is talking to Israel and it's talking about believers, essentially. Basically believers, and it's funny when people try to use this as a salvation passage, it never says believe at all. It just says keep the commandments. So when people try to go to this passage and be like, see, you know in Ezekiel, it says you need to turn from your iniquities. It's like, yeah, except for you're missing like the faith part, right? This is talking about believers getting right with God. Believers being righteous or being wicked, and saying if you're wicked, you're gonna be punished. If you're righteous, you're not gonna be punished. And he'd rather you get right than be punished. Revelation, when he's talking through the seven churches, isn't he saying, repent. What he wants is you to get it right. He gave Jezebel space to repent and she repented not. What he wanted was for her to get right. But since she didn't, she's gonna be punished. And he doesn't have pleasure in that because she's a believer. Because they're believers and the Lord loveth him, he chastens and scurges every son whom he receiveth. He would rather you get right. That's what he had pleasure in. This isn't talking about reprobates. This isn't talking about people that are past feeling, that literally are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. That are, the Bible says unto the pure, all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient and unto every good work reprobate. So what you have to understand is that Ezekiel 33 is not talking about those people. So when the Lord's saying he doesn't have pleasure in the death of the wicked, he's talking about, how about put away from yourselves that wicked person in 1 Corinthians chapter five? You know what he wants him to do? Is be reconciled because in the next book, he tells him to receive that man and that he'd not be swallowed up with over much sorrow because we're not ignorant of Satan's devices, right? You delivered him unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, but listen, bring him back into the fold. Restoration is what God wants. That's what we're dealing with here. So we shouldn't have, listen, I don't have pleasure kicking out a believer out of church. Okay? I don't have pleasure in that. What I'd like is reconciliation. I don't enjoy that, okay? But you can't deny all these verses where the Bible talks about God laughing and mocking certain people as they're destroyed. You can't deny verses where it says we'll literally rejoice when the vengeance happens, okay? And what you have to understand is that that's not talking about believers, okay? You're not laughing at believers being destroyed. You're not laughing at just the unsaved person that is getting taken out by a volcano or an earthquake or something like that. That's not what it's talking about, okay? And let me just give you some verses on this. And this is my last point, but the idea here is that there's a time and place, just like there's a time for every season under the sun. And the thing is is that this line gets blurred sometimes, and you'll have believers that are laughing and mocking other believers when bad stuff happens to them, and that ought not to be so, okay? If that person's a believer, you should be sad that it's happening to them. I'm not here to say like, hey, it's unjust, it's happening to them, or hey, that shouldn't happen to them. Well, maybe it should, you know, right? Because maybe the Lord's punishing that person. But in the end, I'm not happy it's happening to them. I wish they would have gotten right. I wish it wouldn't have had to happen that way, right? Think about these churches that are falling apart because they don't go soul winning anymore, but yet they believe right on the gospel. I'm not happy their doors are closing. You know what I'd rather happen? They start going soul winning, and they start thriving. That's what I'd like to see happen. But if they die out, so be it, you know? It's sad to me, though. It's not like, hey, I wanna be the only show in town. Mountain Baptist Church wants to be the only show in town. No, you know, I think we need more churches that are preaching right on salvation. I think we need more soul winners out there. And so we need to have the right attitude when we're going into these type of things and knowing when to pull the trigger on the idea of hating somebody or rejoicing over someone's demise. And what you guys understand is that most of the time, we are to love, and we are to not be rejoicing over people dying, okay? That's the majority, okay? But there are times where you have to switch it, okay? Just as much, you say, well, how do you know it's the majority of times? Because the majority of people aren't reprobate, that's why. By definition, it's a small percentage of those that are rejected by God. Doesn't mean they don't exist, and doesn't mean that these passages don't apply to them, but this is what these passages apply to. Go to Proverbs chapter one and verse 24. Proverbs one and verse 24. I first want to show you how God, how He reacts, okay? So you know what people will do? Is they'll take Ezekiel 33 and they'll be like, well, that's to this passage, right? They'll just kind of negate this whole passage right here, right? It says in verse 24, because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded, but you have said it, not all my counsel and with none of my reproof. Now, didn't it kind of set you up with who we're dealing with here? Someone that basically just completely rejects, and it's not that they haven't been told, they've rejected knowing what they should be doing, right? It says, I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Therefore, shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. You're dealing with people that knew the truth, held the truth in unrighteousness, and then when their destruction comes, God is laughing and mocking them. You're not dealing with just any person, though. You're dealing with somebody that literally knew the truth and just openly rejected it and God ends up rejecting them. That's who you're dealing with. Go to Psalm 37, Psalm 37. Psalm 37, Psalm 2 also says this. He that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh. At who? The people that are killing the Lord Jesus. We're talking about Herod. We're talking about the Jews, all the people that are setting him in the council. And it says he that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh, meaning that it's not like a good laugh, right? It's a mocking type of laugh. You know, talking about how, when they said they laughed in the scorn, it's not a good thing if someone's laughing you the scorn, okay? And so it says here in Psalm 37, verse 12, the wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. So when the wicked are doing these type of things, you know what the Lord is doing? He's laughing at them because he knows that they're done. He knows when their day's coming and all of that. Now go to Psalm 52, Psalm 52. Now let's see. You say, well, that's the Lord though. I always love how it's like, well, the Lord can hate people, but we can't, right? Because it says, you know, the Lord talks about how, it says there, I hated them and will love them no more. It's like, well, the Lord can hate them, right? Except for the fact that it says, do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am I not grieved with those that rise up against me? You know, you're like, is that a lot of hatred? I hate them with perfect hatred. That means complete hatred, okay? And so, in Psalm 52 here, I'm just gonna read the whole Psalm. It's not a long one, but notice what it says here in verse one. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs like a sharp razor working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good. So you're getting a picture of who they're talking about here, okay? Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness, Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. What you have to understand is that there's people that do violence, but then there are people that love violence, right? Because it talks about those that love violence. It talks about how God's soul, it says his soul hated. So what you have to understand is that words, the structure of the sentence matters as far as it's not just someone that basically says devouring words. It's someone that loves all devouring words, right? They love it. They have pleasure in it, right? Just like those that have pleasure in murder and deceit and malignity and all that stuff, right? It says, O deceitful tongue, God shall likewise destroy thee forever. He shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and root thee out of the land of the living, Selah. Notice this in verse six. The righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him. You're like, well, only God can laugh and mock them, right? No, actually not. The righteous. Now, by definition, they wouldn't be righteous if this was a bad thing to do, okay? It's making a point that this is what the righteous will do. They will see and fear and shall laugh at him. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength. Now, laugh at him is the person that's getting destroyed, right? They're laughing at the person that's getting destroyed. And it says lo, this man that made not God his strength. So they're laughing at him like, you didn't make him your strength. You're basically mocking him for not trusting in the Lord for basically going against the Lord, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthened himself in his wickedness. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise thee forever because thou has done it and I will wait on thy name for it is good before thy saints. So it's giving you that contrast, right? You have the righteous that are trusting in the Lord and his mercy, and you have this rich man that's trusting in his riches and his wickedness. And it says when their destruction, when God destroys them, it says they're gonna laugh at that person. But it's a specific type of person, isn't it? I don't believe we're gonna be laughing and mocking every person that goes into hell, okay? I think there's people that are ones that rejected it, that knew the truth, that were with, obviously everybody's without excuse, but when you're dealing with certain people like Pharaoh and people in the Bible that knew the truth and should have known better, that's a different level. And the last one I'll show you is Psalm 58, Psalm 58 in verse 10. And like I said, what you understand with the Bible is that it's all the word of God. And so you can't just, if your doctrine and your belief negates verses in the Bible, just completely negates and it says that doesn't apply, then your doctrine's wrong. Then your interpretation's wrong, right? So for example, if you say, well, Christians should never mock or laugh at the calamity of any person, right? Because they'll go to Proverbs or whatever. Well, now you've just negated these ones, right? But then you can say to the person over here, it's like, well, you should mock and just add everybody's calamity that's not a believer or whatever. It's like, well, then you're negating these verses over here. So you have to understand that both are right, both have their place, but when do they apply? And that, I believe, is the definition of wisdom, okay? Knowledge is knowing the information at hand. Understanding is like the reason why. It's kinda like you know that it's this way. Understanding is more like I know why it's that way. Wisdom is knowing how to apply the knowledge that you understand. Knowing when to use it, knowing how to use it, that's wisdom, and that is a skill, that is something that takes experience, that is something that obviously reading through the Bible and comparing spiritual things with spiritual and knowing when that applies. That is something that none of us will ever, I don't care how much you read, how much you know, will ever master in our lifetime. We are constantly wanting more wisdom because how many different circumstances are out there that we don't know how to apply what we know? We have all this information, I have it, but how do I apply it, okay? And so in Psalm 58 in verse 10, it says, the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance, he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked so that a man shall say, verily there is a reward for the righteous, verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. So yeah, I mean that applies. You can't just throw that out and be like, well, he's being facetious there. You know, he's being hyperbolic. It's like, about what, right? The thing is is that there is going to be a time where we will rejoice. Listen, let me ask you a question. When the Antichrist is thrown into the lake of fire, are we gonna mourn over that? No, of course not, right? You're gonna rejoice over that. But if someone dies that's unsaved, but they weren't some false prophet, but they just did not believe, I'm not rejoicing over that. I'm not happy about that. I'm not happy when all these people are just dying across the world. I don't like seeing these catastrophes. You know what I think about? I think about what if I was there? What if my family was there? What if that was my children there? When you think about the stuff going on in Israel and Hamas and everything and just like, everybody's on the other side or whatever. It's like, how about the children on both sides? I don't like seeing any children dying in any of those situations. They're like, well, you're anti-Zionism. Yeah, but I still want Jews to get saved. Not all of them are reprobating. By the way, the children aren't, okay? I want the children to get saved. I want the children in Hamas to get saved. I want those people to go to heaven as much as possible. That doesn't mean that it wasn't deserved in that country or that God's punishments are unjust. I'm not saying any of that. The difference is, are we to rejoice over calamities that happened? Even if it's the Lord, right? Who killed Saul? I believe the Lord did. But David didn't rejoice over it. He lamented it. So we need to know when to turn that on and when to turn that off. And I'll just say this, a rule of thumb. When you don't know whether you should love or hate somebody, love them. A rule of thumb, okay? Meaning this is that if there's doubt, love them, okay? But listen, don't get me wrong. There's cases where there's just no doubt, right? Then you should hate them, okay? Like John MacArthur, the false prophet we were just talking about, right? I don't love him and I know I don't love him and I hate him because he's a false prophet that's gonna split hell wide open. But that's different than the old lady down the street that didn't accept the gospel that I had tried to give it to her, you know what I mean? I'm not like, you know, well nuts to her and you know, I hope she dies and goes to hell tonight. It's like what? Like that's different. I'll actually be sad if that person dies and goes to hell and that they don't get saved. But I'm not sad about John MacArthur. When John MacArthur dies, it's gonna be like one less false prophet, praise the Lord. See the difference? And you need to know when to turn it on, turn it off. And what people do is they'll say, well, you know, you're just, you know, mean spirit. It's like, no, I just happen to believe the whole Bible. I happen to believe the parts where it's mean and it says there's a time to hate, I believe that part, but I also believe the part where we should love and we can love our enemies and all that. We need to know, they have the discernment to know that and that's something that sometimes that line is a little blurred and I take the position that if the line is blurred and you don't know for sure, go with the positive, right? Give the benefit of the doubt, okay? But if there's no doubt, then you don't have to give benefit of the doubt, right? It's just clear, okay? And so let's end with a word of prayer. I highly follow what we think of today. Thank you for the book of 2 Samuel and just pray that you'd help me to preach through these passages and these chapters. And Lord, help us to learn from them and Lord, learn from triumphs of David, but also mistakes of David. And Lord, sometimes the mistakes are the best learning tool and Lord, just thank you for these stories that we can learn from them. Help us to love our enemies and Lord, help us to know and discern when to love, when to hate, time of war, time of peace, all those things, Lord, to know when we need to speak, when we need to keep silence, all of that. Lord, give us wisdom and knowledge above our years and Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen. But today we'll come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your song books and turn to song 158. Song 158, we'll sing oh for a thousand tongues to sing. If you would stand, we'll sing song 158. Oh for a thousand tongues to sing, my great redeemers praise the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace. My gracious master and my God assist me to proclaim to spread through all the earth and broad, the honors of thy name. Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrow cease. Tis music in the sinner's ears, tis life and health and peace. He...