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[0:00] The kingdom that cannot fail.

[0:16] So 2 Samuel chapter 17, this is the word of the Lord.! I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee.

[0:41] I will strike down only the king, and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man, and all the people will be at peace.

[0:54] And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel. Then Absalom said, Call Hushai the archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.

[1:09] And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, Thus has Ahithophel spoken. Shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.

[1:22] Then Hushai said to Absalom, This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good. Hushai said, You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field.

[1:39] Besides, your father is an expert in war. He will not spend the night with the people. Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place.

[1:52] And as soon as some of the people fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom. Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear.

[2:09] For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person.

[2:29] So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground. And of him and all the men with him, not one will be left.

[2:45] If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.

[2:57] And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The council of Hushai the Archite is better than the council of Ahithophel. For the Lord has ordained to defeat the good council of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.

[3:16] Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so I have counseled.

[3:29] Now therefore send quickly and tell David, Do not stay tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.

[3:40] Now Jonathan and Ahamas were waiting at Enregel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city.

[3:54] But a young man saw him and told Absalom, So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at Behuram, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it.

[4:07] And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. When Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, and said, Where is Ahamaz and Jonathan?

[4:20] And the woman said to them, They have gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

[4:32] After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David, They said to King David, Arise and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.

[4:45] Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

[4:58] When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

[5:10] Then David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. Now Absalom had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab.

[5:25] Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite, who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.

[5:37] And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead. And David came to Mahanaim, Shobi, the son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir, the son of Amiel, from Lobedabar, and Barzali, the Galadite, or the Gileadite, from Rogalim, brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans, and lentils, honey, and curds, and sheep, and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat.

[6:18] For they said, the people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness. Okay. There's a lot there.

[6:29] There. This is largely good news. By the way, there's a lot of things in here that are great news.

[6:42] In the last several weeks, we have looked at chapters where we have had to go back in other chapters of 2 Samuel to talk about something that has been prophesied or has been said that has now come to pass.

[6:56] And in chapters 13 through 15, we largely went back to chapter 12. Now, I think many of us do remember what happened with chapter 12. It's when the prophet Nathan went to King David and basically said what he did was wrong.

[7:09] And, of course, what he did was wrong. And he was going to pay quite a few consequences for that. And he is still paying those consequences. However, we go back this time to several passages of Scripture.

[7:23] We could, at least. We're going to go back to one tonight. It's 2 Samuel chapter 7 starting in verse 12. You just want to keep your finger here on chapter 17 and to go back to chapter 7 just for a minute.

[7:39] On chapter 12, or verse 12, chapter 7 verse 12, this is about God's covenant with David. David wanted to build a temple. Remember that. And it will eventually happen.

[7:52] And this is the Lord's command. And his word to that, it says, When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom.

[8:08] You shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I put away from before you.

[8:35] And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. ever.

[8:46] Okay. So this is something we need to realize whenever we're reading these passages of Scripture. And the last week we talked about a lot of different characters in chapter 16.

[8:59] And we said, are they loyal or are they not loyal? Most of them were not loyal. Only really one of them was loyal to David who was God's rightful king.

[9:11] God's chosen king for the throne. So all of those other men who were not so loyal, they were enemies of God as well. I mean, they were not just enemies of David.

[9:22] They were enemies of God. And that's something to remember in this situation. And so, because there is a covenant that God has given to the Davidic throne, it is to be established forever.

[9:37] Now for many of us that have struggle looking past flesh and blood and looking past what is of the earth, well, you know, it didn't last forever. And so what's going on there?

[9:49] Well, there is definitely a spiritual lasting forever as we know even physically Jesus Christ was a son of David and spiritually speaking as well, he is to be the king of kings that he will be taking that throne and he shall reign forever in that way.

[10:09] So, so this is every, the Davidic kingdom is to be pushed forward and forward even future for us as well. And now, this evening we sang A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

[10:23] We sang that on purpose because there's a line at the end. It says, His kingdom is forever. It says, what does it say? The body they may kill.

[10:36] God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. There is a purpose. There is a reason why this is beyond us. This is more important than us as well.

[10:48] There's another hymn that says something very similar. It's Rejoice the Lord is King. Charles Wesley wrote this. He lived after Martin Luther but certainly about 200 years ago.

[11:00] This man wrote Rejoice the Lord is King. The Lord and King adore. Rejoice, give thanks and sing in triumph evermore. And then lift up your voice.

[11:10] It's a refrain. And then one of the other stanzas says this. His kingdom cannot fail. He rules over earth and heaven. The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus given.

[11:25] And so Jesus holds the keys to death and hell. God has given him the keys. keys to death and hell and he is going to hold them forever and his kingdom cannot fail.

[11:38] It will reign forever and ever. Now we look at 2 Samuel 17 and even before that a little after as well. We see a kingdom that is under attack and we're saying how can a kingdom that is under attack be a kingdom that cannot fail.

[11:55] We have to also remember it is also being protected as well. and that's something that we will be looking at several times in this sermon. And so let's dig into this passage of scripture.

[12:08] We see in the first several verses the hidden sovereignty of God. The hidden sovereignty of God.

[12:20] And now before we look at the first few verses we need to remember the last verse chapter 16 because it ties into it.

[12:30] It says in the days the counsel of Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God. And then it says something even just as important.

[12:42] It was also so it was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed both by David and by Absalom. And so this is a very important character a very important person in this time period.

[12:57] And his counsel was given as if it was the word of God. I mean it was considered to be important. If he was going to give counsel he wanted to follow that counsel.

[13:08] And so as we saw in the last part of chapter 16 he gave counsel to go into David's concubines and Absalom gladly did that. So he's asking him for more advice and you would imagine well his counsel is like consulting the word of God you would think he's going to follow it to the letter.

[13:28] Okay so what's Ahithophel's counsel that he gives in chapter 17? He is to take men all these men 12,000 men to be exact and he is to take them to battle and pursue David immediately.

[13:43] The text right there in verse 1 says tonight but who's to do that? Is Absalom to do that? No Ahithophel is going to do that. He's going to choose these 12,000 men and he's going to pursue David tonight and then he's going to do that for a very good reason.

[14:00] It's using a surprise element. He's going to ambush them. They're going to be surprised. They're going to scatter and they're going to go all over the place and then David's going to be left alone apparently.

[14:13] He's going to kill David and then all those other guys say well I guess Absalom is now the rightful king. We'll come back to Jerusalem and follow Absalom. I mean it sounds like a pretty good situation.

[14:24] Well what it is is the best case scenario. I mean he's being Mr. Optimistic here and he's also trying to sell something too. I mean this is a salesman who is also a salesman.

[14:35] I'm not saying that's wrong but that's part of their job of counseling. They want to put their best foot forward in that way but nonetheless he's selling this type of thing but he has an objective.

[14:47] He's going here even if the best case scenario doesn't happen and let's say the men of David's you know because they're mighty men they're strong men. Let's say they do stand up.

[14:59] Let's say they really aren't that surprised about that. They have lookouts in various places or whatever may be happening. Well okay they're still going to be outnumbering them quite a bit and they'll get in there and there may be several people that die several thousand people on Absalom's side that die but it's okay they're chattel they're just there's one particular purpose of this one particular objective in this scenario to kill David.

[15:29] That's all he wants to do. It doesn't matter who else dies to kill David. That's his objective. It's kind of like playing chess. I like to play chess but I have a tendency when I play chess especially early on when I was younger to enjoy the beauty of the game just to see all those moves.

[15:50] I love the castle whether I need to or not or I just you know there's various things I just love how the knight moves and just various things that happen and I'm playing an opponent who has an objective to capture my king you know put my king in checkmate that's his objective and my objective well you know I'm scatterbrained and he's beating me you know I know how to play and I love it I love it so much but then all of a sudden the game's over and I'm through checkmate well that's a hit to fail hit to fail is not me hit to fail is the other guy he has an objective is to kill David and he's focused on that you also notice that his speech that he says here is pretty short I mean it's only about a few verses he's very to the point he's matter of fact and he knows how to get the job done he's very good at that kind of thing those are good people to have in your cabinet or in your council and so yeah definitely top dog there

[16:51] Hushai is kind of second council to hit the fell and so Absalom is very thankful to have him however it's kind of strange especially in verse four it says the advice seems right in the eyes of Absalom and the elders of Israel and you know it says also in the bible too in verse 14 it's good advice it really is I mean honestly if this happened it probably would work to some extent maybe not the best case scenario extent but yeah most likely they would have defeated David because they would have you know virtually outnumbered him and he wasn't he wasn't you know ready for that kind of thing he was still on that side of the Jordan and not really in a great location to make a good make a good defense okay so it's kind of strange when you get to verse five and verse six you see that he's going to call Hushai the Archite well he already got the best word he could get why is he doing this it's kind of strange what's Hushai the Archite saying well first there is an advantage that he has

[18:00] Ahithophel had the advantage of you know his counsel is like the word of God but Hushai's advantage is this in verse six it says thus has Ahithophel spoken shall we do as he says so already he's heard what Ahithophel had to say what his scenario is and so Hushai was actually able to develop something knowing that you know they could have said we're not going to tell you what Ahithophel says what do you think and he would have had to come up with something on the fly but he's able to actually figure something out from what Ahithophel said at the same time and then he almost ruins it you would think he says oh that counsel Ahithophel said is not good what do you mean it's always good why is it not good this time well he softens the blow this time it's not good you don't always get the right word every time even the best and so what is he saying here well first of all he kind of gives a worst case scenario maybe not the worst case scenario but definitely far worse than what Ahithophel was giving about Ahithophel's plan when it comes to verse 8 and following he says your father and his men are mighty men and not only they are mighty men and good at fighting but they are mad at you they are enraged and even using a simile like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field

[19:34] I don't know if you've ever seen a bear robbed of cubs in the field I imagine none of you have because you're here and so they're mad they're mad alright so he's an expert in war he's bringing in some logical points here I mean why are you going to follow why are you going to be doing this what Ahithophel is saying it doesn't really seem to be well followed through he's saying that David is just going to lay down and everyone beside him is going to lay down as well they've never laid down why do you think they're going to lay down now and so David's probably not even going to be out in the open he's a man of war he knows what to do he's going to be hidden someplace and you won't even be able to find the guy that's what they're saying right there it's part of logic it makes sense and then he go into verse 9 or at least the second part of verse 9 it says as soon as some of the people fall at the first attack whoever hears it will say there has been a slaughter among the people who follow

[20:36] Absalom so already appealing not just the logic but also the fear these men know how to fight these men really have the advantage on you even though you may be outnumbering them they know how to fight a whole lot better than you do and they're worth easily ten of you so you're going to be fearful you get up to them and they're not going to be running away they're going to be coming after you okay and then verse verse 10 he even just continues with that they will melt with fear why because they're valiant men so what does he say about Absalom at this time verse 11 he gives a plan just to simply wait not to go immediately but to grow your army as well it says from Dan to Beersheba that's just a way of saying everyone in Israel all of

[21:38] Israel from the north to the south bring them all to battle in person in person Absalom is to lead them and so he's really playing with something here and also bringing something that Ahithophel was not bringing I mean Ahithophel had a plan of I'm going to lead and then the king is going to stay back in Jerusalem and then the king is going to listen to me and I'm going to pretty much be the king and he'll be the proxy king pretty much but this guy has something different Absalom you be the one leading him because you're going to be the king and the king is going to be the one that's supposed to lead them to battle he's kind of playing with his mind a little bit showing him that he's going to be the one ruling the day maybe he's getting a little big headed maybe that's kind of what's happening here getting a little big headed appealing to vanity and not only is he appealing to vanity but he's also appealing to something else possibly worse in verse 13 if he withdraws into a city then all

[22:56] Israel will bring ropes to that city and we shall drag it into the valley until not even a pebble is to be found there appealing to vengeance I mean yeah David and his men may be mad at you but you're mad at them too and we know it you're mad at them as well so appealing to vengeance appealing to vanity appealing to all these things that you know they feel like they can have it better if they were the ones in charge it will all be better appealing to that kind of scenario and what do they say well yeah it's better because we're in charge it's better so what do they do in verse 14 Absalom and all the men of Israel the council of Hushai the Archite is better than the council of Ahithophel now that is an amazing scenario if verse 14 stopped right there that should be amazing enough right there because of that last verse in chapter 16 Ahithophel's advice his counsel is like the word of God it's no longer someone beat him to the punch so what was

[24:03] Hushai's main objective in this advice in this counsel first of all he was to deceive him into thinking some things appealing to certain emotions appealing to that vanity of his that was pretty obvious I mean the hair thing all that he's vain and so he's appealing to something there appealing to his personal vengeance because he wanted to take the throne I mean look at the vengeance from chapter 13 when he went after Amnon it took several years and he was boiling over in that several years and finally got to kill Amnon when he got him in a place where he could easily be killed and so he's you know he's a guy that can be vengeful and he's also a guy that's good at waiting as well and getting the best foot forward in that in that type of thing too so they were to attack and they were to attack head on but with that deception also time because there's a plan and that plan is about to be set in place back in a few chapters before that as David's men were coming around him gathered around him remember you had

[25:25] Zadok and Abiathar the high priest brought the Ark of the Covenant David told him to take it back to Jerusalem but not only took the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem but took a plan back there too and they were going to start having a go between Zadok and Abiathar's sons were to be go betweens between the you know the spies per se and also to David so that there was a plan going on there and it's going to give them time to give them an opportunity to set themselves up for battle in a greater way than they are right now because that's what's going to happen it's already pretty obvious the battle is about to happen it's inevitable and so the reason Hushai's advice was taken over Abiathar I'm sorry not Abiathar I hit the fell wrong a word

[26:25] God's determined sovereign plan God's determined sovereign plan is what is the reason here and it says right there in verse 14 it's kind of the key verse at least the last part of the verse 14 for the Lord had ordained the defeat of the good counsel of Ahithophel so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom this was the Lord that decided to do that that brought this to the head we look at guys like Hushai and we could become enamored with them I mean this is a really brave guy what he did if he was caught he'd be killed like that so he's bold to be able to do that kind of thing to be a spy and to follow David his king in that way again we talked about this last week too Hushai was not a Jew he was a Gentile at least pretty good evidence that he's a

[27:26] Gentile and so he might be a Jewish convert but born a Gentile and so we may be enthralled by guys like that and think highly of them and maybe even highly of good fortunes of some kind but we need to recognize that God's hand is in this as well and we can apply that to our lives we may think oh a great fortune that we may have in this thing that's going my way everything's going my way you may be thinking that way but we have to understand God's hand is in these things weather not just everything's going your way but let's say nothing's going your way you know God is still in control and so we need to remember that in our personal lives as well and David definitely remembered that in the last few chapters some of the great psalms that he wrote even when he was in exile it's been pretty amazing so the next part of this chapter the exciting providence of God the way

[28:34] God has provided for David and his men and it's spelled out really in the rest of this chapter but we'll have a third part at the end that's also providence related so verse 15 you see Hushai reporting and you see some outcome that's happening as well now this is an outcome of chapter 15 verses 27 to 28 talked about that earlier that's when David went to Zadok and Abiathar and they were going to be spies and their sons are going to be going to a city outside of Jerusalem and a servant girl or a servant it was a servant girl but a servant was going to take the news to them and then they were going to take the news to David and his men and just keep going on like that and so this was about to happen and here Hushai is bringing the news to Zadok and Abiathar they are to take that council to David what Ahithophel said and then what

[29:43] Hushai said just to bring both of them there this is what's going to happen and they're going to go this direction and they're going to send quickly and what do they say well don't stay tonight at the fords of the wilderness where are the fords of the wilderness well that's there's the Jordan River there's the west side of the Jordan River east side of the Jordan River and Jerusalem is on the west side of the Jordan River and they're to go over the east side of the Jordan River and because they can you know for the start of the Jordan River it's harder to cross than anything that's a river it's going to be harder to cross than just something that's not a river so they'll have a harder time crossing that Absalom's group and so it'll give them some extra time to set up and to set up their plan and so pass over that river and go on the other side so you don't get swallowed up by this great horde of men that they were putting together in this great army now what happens there's a bit of a oh a bit of problem going on here between

[30:46] Jonathan and Ahimaz who are the sons of the high priests and there an enrogel and a female servant came and told them this but uh oh they got spotted one of Absalom's men spotted them he went to Jerusalem told Absalom and they're about to be hunted down so they had to go to Behurim which is east of Jerusalem but west of where David is and they are to go into this house and they found a well and oh man they're down and out and it had to be thrown in the well tossed in there as quickly as possible she covered it up beautifully they were hidden you couldn't even tell there was a well there and the men came in where are these guys and she says they're just kind of I think I spotted them going across that creek over there well you know she might as well have you know been in St.

[31:42] Louis and said I think they went into that red brick building over there and if you know anything about St. Louis there's a lot of red brick buildings so you might as well have said something like that anyway some people will say she lied she lied I don't want to get into that tonight honestly it's God used this type of situation we honestly need I'll say one thing about it there's no reason to get in the way of God's plan God has a plan God has a way of purposes if God is going to bring these two men to David he's going to do it and he's going to say oh they're right there in this well there and they could have asked I who knows what could have happened there but nonetheless that's you know God says don't bear false witness don't bear false witness but we go into verse 21 well they're able to get to David tell him what's going on they cross the Jordan and it says that they cross the

[32:48] Jordan but well we haven't gotten there yet but it says something kind of weird it kind of breaks from the story it says something about Hittaphel kind of goes back to him and as matter of fact as his counsel as his advice it just says he goes back to his city he gets his house in order commits suicide and he's buried with his fathers okay that's nice I mean it's almost as matter of fact about that as you can get about that and now I wonder what's going on there well gotta remember that Ahithophel was an enemy of God was an enemy of God's plan and his you know with his word was he a smart guy sure he was could he have understood that possibly with Hushai's plan he was probably eventually going to be executed when David is able to get back in control yes of course if that was going to happen he surely would have been executed as well who knows what's going on but it's a good indicator of the famous proverb 16 18 pride comes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before a fall that's a really good example of that we don't want to be prideful in those things so the battle set up verse 24 or yeah verse 24 so David comes to

[34:27] Mahanaim Mahanaim is over the river and through the woods about 20 miles and from the river river it's on another river the Jabbok river which is the tributary of the Jordan river and it's pretty good distance from Jerusalem but it also says that Absalom came over in that period of time and I don't know how much time has passed between this it's not like it's like an hour later or anything but he came over it says something about his army he has all the men of Israel with him now that's pretty amazing army going on here now we've got to remember David had the men that were with him and it could have been a pretty good number but they were in Mahanaim they were in a city in a town out in the country and Absalom had Amasa who was related to

[35:29] Joab one of Joab's cousins one of Absalom's cousins too in that same family it says his pedigree there and then also that they are going to go to Gilead in verse 26 and camping in the land of Gilead now where's Gilead well there's on the east side of the river again the Gad province or the Gad tribe Gilead is pretty much Gad but Mahanaim is a city in Gilead and so Gilead's a region so Mahanaim is right there just a city and Gilead is right here and if I think it's a good picture I don't think these men were all encompassed in Gilead by any stretch but it's still a pretty good picture Mahanaim versus Gilead I mean you kind of get a picture what's going on here David and his men were out numbered in a great way all the men of

[36:30] Israel were coming after the rest of the men of Israel and so you know you can kind of tell that there's definitely going to be a scenario and a battle set that is definitely going to be lopsided at the same time so but look at what Hushai did Hushai saved his day because if he hadn't gone across the river there already would have been a battle at this point and so they were able to figure out what's going on they were able to find a better spot to hide or at least a better spot to find a better defense to fight the way they can fight to get a greater advantage given the few men they had guerrilla warfare finding a place that they could have lots of hiding spots that they can do some surprises when the men of Israel come and march across them in a great way if you've seen the movie

[37:32] Patriot you know Mel Gibson's group kind of did that from time to time especially when they were starting out they were able to find spots where they could hide and red coats came and pop up and start shooting away and so it's kind of they wanted to do something similar to that so that's good another way for Hushai so many names good way for Hushai to be used again for David's purposes and for God's purposes as well and there are three other men that are named and two of them have already been named previously one's going to be later on and these are steadfast servants of God and it's kind of a motley crew to be considered a steadfast servant of God and also I want to set up a way to describe what these guys are actually doing it's one of my favorite characters in American history

[38:35] Snowball Jackson guy who becomes Snowball Jackson this is this is long time before that point in the Mexican war or Mexico and it's the assault on Chapaletic and it's a battery under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Jackson came under a punishing fire and some of the horses were killed and the gunners deserted the guns to find shelter behind an embankment but Lieutenant Jackson remained at the guns urging his men back they didn't win by the way they lost but they did hold and years later Jackson students at Virginia Military Institute where he taught before the war between the states were inquiring about this episode and one of them asked Major why didn't you run when your command was so disabled now Jackson's quiet response was this

[39:38] I was not ordered to do so if I had been ordered to run I should have done so but I was directed to hold my position and I had no right to abandon it that's how he fought the entire war by the way that's why his name is Snowball but this guy this is a scenario that's simply painted to say this is what these guys were kind of doing these men that are named in verses 27 and 28 they were in a position that they were following David and David hadn't won anything at this point David could have easily been defeated and they would have been defeated in the process and their fortunes would have been defeated because they were rich landowners but nonetheless they followed David at the same time so let's name these three guys well there are there's Shobbe the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites he is a pagan he is someone you know just a just a regular old guy not a

[40:43] Jew definitely a pagan there's also another guy Machir the son of Amiel from Lodabar now Machir we have heard his name before from chapter nine when Mephibosheth was found he was staying within the house of Machir and so Machir being a Saul loyalist or a former Saul loyalist at this time and then this other guy Barzali or Barzali I'll eventually learn how to say it Barzali the Gileadite from Rogalim and we'll find out who he is in a couple of chapters but a hint is this he's not young matter of fact he's been not young for a long time he's more than 80 years old and back in this day that was old it's not old anymore but it was old then and so this guy still serving the Lord and serving David in this very risky situation and yet they came with these goods look at all they brought more than just food they brought things that they could use like beds basins and earthen vessels to be able to collect things and other foods as they are foraging along the land as well and all of these other things that will help them out for good reason the people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness definitely no brainer of course they are and so they're being helped in such great way what great provision and also as we talked about these steadfast servants of God a great example for all of us as we serve our

[42:28] Lord Jesus Christ Matthew 10 verses 32 and 33 say this so everyone who acknowledges me before men I also will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven but whoever denies me before men I also will deny before my father who is in heaven and this verse is more than just liking a picture of Jesus on Facebook this picture is what this is saying is saying no matter what happens in this world no matter where things happen to go you are to acknowledge the father you are to serve him you are to follow him and this chapter and those men and Hushai and others shows God's kingdom under attack but also under protection and there is solace in that for the people of God our ultimate security does not rest on any immunity from personal disasters or on any guarantee that our own nation will never fall but only in the fact that the

[43:33]  God of heaven has set up a kingdom and it shall stand forever so in our lives let us be thankful of understanding that we serve a God who has established a kingdom that will never fail and his son will be king forever and ever