 But today we're in chapter 16 here in 1 Samuel. We're being basically introduced, though not really with an awful lot of information, to a young man by the name of David. We'll be looking at David just a bit about him today in chapter 16. So let's begin reading here in 1 Samuel chapter 16 at verse 1. We'll read to verse 3 and we'll get into our study. 1 Samuel chapter 16 verses Now the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I'm sending you to Jesse the Bethlehem might, for I have provided myself a king among his sons. Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. But the Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you what you shall do. You shall anoint for me the one I named to you. Saul has been rejected. Saul has been rejected as king over the nation of Israel. And it's broken the heart of a man by the name of Samuel. Somebody wonders why would it bother him so much? It's just a rejection of a man. I think that sometimes, even in this day, especially in this day that we live in, that even believers have a difficult time understanding the depth of pain a righteous man can endure over sin and rejection of somebody. We're so used to it today. There's so much sin today. People are so used to it. And so they don't get shocked. They don't get embarrassed. It's been said that this generation that we live in doesn't know how to blush. And that's absolutely true. All you need to do is look at some of the role models that young people have today and you can see that. The Britonies and the Madonna's and the rest and the way that they live and the things they're not ashamed of doing. It has callous the hearts of many people. And so at one time it was a shameful thing, but today it's a normal thing. But in the case of Samuel his heart was broken. He was a righteous man and it broke his heart to see what happened to Saul. It grieved him for Samuel the loss of a man with such great potential was almost too much for him to bear. When you look at the life of Saul you see so many attributes that he had that would have made him into an incredible king. He had obvious natural talents. He had height. He had looks. He had prestige. Family honored. When you see him he has military skills. He's an aggressive man. He's confident. Commands respect from other people. He was a fierce warrior who would not allow others to perform beneath their abilities. You see some people make excuses for other people's failures, but Saul was not one who would do so. He didn't put up with failures on the part of others. He was a commander and as a commander he would stir up his men to achieve victory and he accepted no excuse for failure. In 1 Samuel chapter 14 we saw this at verse 24 when he had said, cursed is a man who eats any food until evening before I have taken vengeance on him. He was a man who was out to get it. He was going to do it. It was going to happen and he didn't allow anybody to get in his way. He was a relentless foe of any who would oppose him and when he fought he fought with determination. In chapter 14 again in verses 47 and 48 it says, Saul established his sovereignty over Israel and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the people of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, against the Philistines, wherever he turned he harassed them. He gathered an army, attacked the Amalekites, delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them. This is a man with tremendous potential. This is a man with tremendous skills. A man with leadership ability. And so it greatly pained Samuel to see what had happened. You see there are very few things that cause such pain as seeing something called wasted potential. I started ministry when I was 23 years old. I've been in ministry for 35 years of my life and I can tell you over the years I have met many young people with tremendous potential. Great communicators, strong leaders, intellectual, eloquent, capable. There were the kinds of people I've met so many who had that personality, that stirred people. Leaders they'd say I'm going to go here, others would say we'll go with you. They were just that way and yet I've seen so many over the years. Can you imagine? So many over 35 years of serving the Lord that started out well with great potential only to fail. Only to give in to garbage, to give in to stuff that doesn't matter. Things that don't matter at all. They yielded to and I've seen it over and over again. They fall in love with the world. They get concerned with the things of the world, the cares and the riches of this life. And they're taken away or they go through some tribulation or persecution because of being a believer. They lose their friends and before you know it they don't want to be without their friends and they walk away. I've seen them when they give themselves over to small habits of the flesh, little carnalities, their addictions. You know they can't control their hormones. You know they've got to have sex with whomever is available. I've seen that. Great people who would have been wonderful leaders but they yield themselves to sexual temptation. They yield themselves to alcohol. They can't control the way that they speak. They use nothing but profanity whenever they communicate and you watch this. They yield to petty little sins like the flesh. They have habits of the flesh that disqualify them from serving. There they are puffing on the cigarette, drinking their mixed drink and all this potential. And I've watched it. I've seen it. It breaks my heart. Sometimes even as an older man I began to wonder what is the future of the church when our leaders, when our young leaders are so easily ensnared by so many small things that matter not. Well that's how it was with Samuel. He sees Saul and he sees this man with so much going for him. This is a man who was disobedient. This is a man whose disobedience led to his rejection. Saul had taken a weak nation dominated by his enemies, elevated Israel to a mighty power but had done so with the intention of establishing his own dynasty. He didn't do it into the glory of God. And when this took place Samuel watched it and Samuel grieved. He regretted and sorrowed. And so in verse 1 here in chapter 16 of 1 Samuel the Lord speaks to Samuel and says to him how long will you mourn for Saul seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel. God makes it clear it's time for you to put away your personal feelings. It's time to move on. Saul's rejection is final. It's time to anoint the next king over Israel. You have to move on. Saul's going to remain in the position of king but only in what we would today call a lame duck capacity. So Samuel you need to go and you need to anoint the next king over Israel and it's going to be one of Jesse's sons. He says there fill your horn with oil. Go I'm sending you to Jesse the Bethlehem might. I have provided myself a king among his sons. And so he's to go and he's to anoint one of the sons of Jesse. Now Jesse is a wealthy man. He lived in a town called Bethlehem. When you look at a map of Israel you see the city of Jerusalem there in the north rather in the south and just southwest of Jerusalem is a small village area called Bethlehem. And so he's to go there into that area. Now we know that Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin but this next king is going to be of the tribe of Judah because Jesse is from the tribe of Judah and that fits into God's plan for establishing the line of the Messiah. Judah and Benjamin are part of that plan. All the way in the book of Genesis in chapter 49 verse 10 there's a prophecy that relates to Messiah and it says the scepter shall not depart from Judah. In Micah chapter 5 verse 2 we read, though you are small among the clans of Judah a lot of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel whose origins are from old from ancient times. God's word over and over again points out that the Messiah is going to come from the tribe of Judah and from the city of Bethlehem and so this is all working out. Later on in 2 Samuel when God is speaking to David he says in verses 12 and 13 of chapter 7 when your days are over and you rest with your fathers I will raise up your offering to succeed you who will come from your own body. I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever and so God says I am going to have a king coming out of Bethlehem out of Judah and so that's what he's doing. He's supposed to go there and he's supposed to anoint the next king but Samuel verse 2 says how can I go if Saul hears he'll kill me. The Lord said take a heifer with you say I have come to sacrifice to the Lord and invite Jesse to the sacrifice. I'll show you what you shall do. You shall anoint for me the one I name for you. Well he says listen if I go there to anoint a new king and Saul hears about it he's going to execute me because it appears to be an act of treason so I don't want to go to Bethlehem. Well God gives him a reason for going he says you can go and you can make an offering. Now we have Saul who's been on keeping the throne but David is about to have a throne given to him by God. It says in verse 4 so Samuel did what the Lord said and went to Bethlehem and the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said do you come peaceably? He said peaceably. I've come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. He consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. Now they had heard what he had done. He had chopped up a man by the name of Agag and it caused him great concern that he's there in their town. It wasn't that long ago that he was acting as judge perhaps they thought there was a crime that had occurred in their city and their concern. So what he does is he quiets their fear by telling them prepare a sacrifice for the Lord and he makes sure that Jesse and his family are properly prepared for what is about to happen. And so as this is going down here verse 6 so it was when they came that he looked at Eliab and said surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel do not look at his appearance or at his little stature because I have refused him for the Lord does not see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. And so here it is. We have an opportunity to have seen how God makes selections. A young man comes the firstborn of Jesse. His name is Eliab. He's obviously a very handsome young man more than likely was tall very impressive. He had the appearance of royalty as he walks in and immediately as Samuel is there he thinks within himself surely the Lord's anointed is before him just by looking at his outer appearance he makes this decision this has to be him. It's impressive and Samuel is impressed by this man. But God speaks to him and gives him something very practical. The Lord said to Samuel do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature because I have refused him for the Lord does not see as man sees for man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. Samuel made the mistake of judging by outer appearance once again. Saul was very kingly but he was disqualified. You see if outward appearance was all that's necessary for greatness Brad Pitt could be president very handsome young man a lot of people like him if outward appearance is all that's necessary for that but obviously that's not true you see external advantages don't automatically add up to great character outward beauty can often lead to manipulation revealing the absence of character. There have been many studies done on how people treat the good looking amongst them what they consider to be handsome and how they treat the handsome or how they treat the beautiful. Many studies that have been done relating to that and the good looking the beautiful children have a tendency of getting over getting getting away with an awful lot of things I never got away with anything but they got away with an awful lot of things because people have a tendency of thinking they're so beautiful why be mean to them that's the truth and a lot of people discover that as they're growing up if they smile if they have dimples if they're cute if they act cute they can get away with murder they can get away with all kinds of things nobody wants to suspect that beautiful child being a thief or a liar it's got to be the ugly one and that's kind of how people are and that's really how people are outer appearance if they're beautiful they don't necessarily have to develop a character because they get away with an awful lot because of their beauty if they're handsome and charming they've got a lot of personality and they got that cuteness about them they get away with an awful lot because people have a tendency of judging on the outer appearance instead of the heart and they get away with an awful lot it's true Americans are very bent on beauty we all are we all are Americans are infected by it so caught up with the outer obviously we ought to take care of our bodies obviously we ought to be careful about what we eat and we ought to get enough sleep I mean all of that's common sense of course we should do that so many investments into the outer appearance and they don't cultivate the person of the heart they just don't they don't see the necessity of doing that it's all outside it's all on the right color eyes it's on the right color of hair it's on the right body build it's the right kind of clothing it's all outside it's been said there's very few there are very few things as said it's watching a beautiful woman growing older say well 60 is the new 40 no 60 is 60 it's old man I don't care what you do you can nip it and you can tuck it you can roll it you can do what you want with it it's gonna find a place to come out I promise you that's the way it is you know your huge chest becomes your waist and there's nothing you can do about it that's the way it is and we get caught up with that don't we I mean we get caught up with the outer appearance I mean that's just America that's the way we are you have to be beautiful in order to be popular don't you and we just really really have a tendency of neglecting the inner person but the Bible tells us in Proverbs 31 verse 30 charm is deceitful beauty is passing she shall be praised a woman who fears the Lord she shall be praised because beauty passes charm is deceitful it's here now and it's used for whatever it is I can get from you but there are very few things as sad as watching an older woman trying to act cute that kind of like bugs me to be honest with you you know when you see a 60 year old woman wearing a miniskirt God help us all it is the end of time put on a granny dress on you please and then the guys have got to wear the gold chains you know and then they get the hair transplants for the chest is that all about anyway I don't know man looks at the outer appearance we definitely there's no doubt about it but when you look at the outer appearance you don't necessarily make good judgments a great example is Jesus himself Jesus Messiah is great example you know when Jesus walked into the room I'm certain that he was an average looking man he did not glow in the dark when he walked in he was an average looking man until his reputation grew and people began to recognize him he could walk into any room there people wouldn't even know he's there because he looked like everybody else he was not the outstanding good looking man he wasn't that way when I grew up I'd see these artist's conceptions of Jesus you know and many times I thought of Jesus as being a European man you know because he had certain coloring in his eyes or certain color and all of that and I really never knew what Jesus could have looked like but when you look in the Bible the Bible makes a description of him in Isaiah 53 verse 2 in Isaiah speaking concerning Messiah who was to come written 750 years before Christ speaking of Messiah says this Isaiah 53 verse 2 says he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him nothing in his appearance that we should desire him that's a description of Messiah when Jesus walked into the room he looked like the average man there was no beauty about him so that people would automatically be drawn to this beautiful man he was there was something about him that drew people it was not his external beauty there was the majesty of his character it was the power and authority that he lived in and this is what drew people when he would speak with that authority when his eyes would flash that power and people would say there's something different about this one Jesus our Messiah but it wasn't because he was beautiful to look at it was something else that was from the inside so on the one hand man looks at outer appearance but on the other hand God looks at the heart God sees what's hidden from our eyes God sees the motives he sees the will he sees the intellect he reads the heart he sees the desires he sees these things he sees the real person not just the outward person it's like when you see somebody on the job or when you see somebody at school or someplace and you're single and they're single and there's something about them that may attract you and you begin to see them often to the point where you begin to know who they are you may even be introduced to them or you introduce yourself to them and maybe they're in your class they're at school and after a while you become friendly enough to say would you like to get a cup of coffee or something and you take them out you take them out on a Friday night you take them out on a Saturday you go and pick them up they made sure that they bathed their hair is combed got their makeup on that's the guy the girl's even worse and I mean they're ready to go out and they're looking as good as they can I mean you take them out to eat and what would you like to eat they eat small portions you know dainty oh I don't eat that much you know then you get married then you get to know who they really are it's true morning breath strikes and you get to know them you get to know them and their hearts are now revealed you know most of us have very few people some of us don't have really anybody who really knows us really knows us some of us have a handful who do maybe my wife might get to really know me and my children may get to know me real well only God really knows me because my testimony is between my God and me only God really knows my testimony my wife doesn't know my whole testimony my children haven't heard half of my testimony my parents don't know my entire testimony nobody knows that except for God and that's why I'm in love with him because he knows it and he loves me anyway and he forgave me of all that I know I've been and what I can be now but man has this tendency of seeing the outer he looks clean he looks nice he looks sharp he speaks well and here's Aliyah standing there in front of Samuel and Samuel automatically goes into what the world does surely the Lord's anointed stands before him this man's handsome he's tall he's regal he's got something about him because man looks at the outer appearance but I the Lord I look at the heart I know what his will is I know what his motives are I know his desires I know his plans I know what he'll do with power once he gets it and I'm not handing him that kind of power well as this is taking place verse 8 Jesse called Abinadab made him pass before Samuel he said neither has the Lord chosen this one then Jesse made Shema pass by he said neither has the Lord chosen this one thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel and Samuel said to Jesse the Lord hasn't chosen these Samuel said to Jesse are all the young men here he said well there remains yet the youngest and there he is keeping the sheet Samuel said to Jesse send and bring him for we will not sit down until he comes here so he sent and brought him in now he's ruddy with bright eyes good looking the Lord said arise anoint him for this is the one then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward so Samuel arose and went to Rama so he has these sons passing by and every son is disqualified to the point where all of his sons have passed by and he says this is it I haven't seen the Lord's anointed yet are there any others well yeah we have one he's a young guy out there he's the least he's so unimportant to me to be honest with you that I didn't even bring him in I brought in the ones that I thought would really pass muster I was sure that out of these seven here that undoubtedly one of them must have been the one that you're looking for yeah I have one more he's out there watching the sheep bring him in I'm not going to even be seated until he comes and stands before me I want to see this young man so we see something here God's favor fell on the least of the brothers God's favor fell on the least of the brothers because his heart was right before God back in 1st Samuel 13-14 God said this is a man after my own heart and that's what God is looking for someone whose heart is completely his and that was David and we look at David as a young man as a matter of fact his description here in verse 12 is interesting he was ruddy with bright eyes and good looking ruddy I mean it's the last time you use the word ruddy the word ruddy speaks of being red haired he had red hair and when it says that he was good looking that speaks for itself but when it says he had bright eyes that gives you some insight because it wasn't just that he came in with these bright eyes you know that kind of like just some people have these eyes that they walk in their eyes are just so you know it's like they light up a room that's not what he's talking about it wasn't talking about the physical attribute of just having these beautiful eyes what he was talking about was there was something that was coming out of him there was something that was emanating from him and what it was it was the joy of God when he walked in with this bright eyes this good looking red haired kid when he came walking in there was talking about the presence of God all over David that Samuel automatically said this one here is God's anointed he's got the joy of God in him you see this little boy this young man at this time wasn't a little boy he's a young man this young man would be out there in the wilderness as a shepherd learning things about God and caring for others and God wanted the king to be a shepherd to care for the nation of Israel to have a heart for the weak and the lost the wanderers the ones in need Saul didn't have a heart like that whenever he saw a warrior he took him to his side when he saw somebody with extravagant gifts he brought him alongside of him he did not have a heart for the weak and the lost David did and David passed muster and God said this is the one so many times we use the standards of the world in our selection of leaders and God doesn't God takes somebody who's really the least because that one has usability in the hands of God and that's what he did with David Samuel took that horn in verse 13 and anointed him which is a picture of the anointing of the Holy Spirit that is going to give him the ability to perform the tasks that are set before him as the king and then Samuel rose and went back to his home in Ramah but verse 14 the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him Saul's servant said to him surely a distressing spirit from God is troubling you let our master now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful player of the heart shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is on you and you shall be well so Saul said to his servants provide me now a man who can play well and bring him to me I want you to notice verse 14 the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him as I mentioned to you before in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would anoint people but also depart from them that's for what we in the church refer to as Pentecost when the Spirit descends and remains on believers so in the Old Testament often God would anoint someone with the Spirit but would remove his Spirit and that's why King David himself in Psalm 5111 said do not cast me away from your presence do not take your Holy Spirit from me God is no longer working with Saul he begins to trouble him he's not demon possessed he's tormented that word torment speaks of being terrified he is terrified by a demonic spirit he becomes subject to mental agony a fear filled terror that results in violent acts he's now experiencing God's judgment through depression through anger and delusion and you're going to see this throughout the rest of the book how he begins to act and what he does all servants say this is a distressing spirit from God that's troubling you they know that all things have their primary cause in God they know that God has sent this Spirit so out of love for Saul they suggest that an anointed musician be brought in to comfort him and the anointed musician is none other than David notice verse 18 one of the servants answered and said look I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing a mighty man of color a man of war prudent in speech and a handsome person the Lord is with him therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said send me your son David who's with the sheep Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread a skin of wine a young goat sent them by his son David to Saul so David came to Saul and stood before him and he loved him greatly and he became his armor bearer Saul sent to Jesse saying please let David stand before me he has found favor in my sight and so it was whenever the Spirit from God was upon Saul that David would take a harp and play it with his hand Saul would become refreshed and well the distressing spirit would depart from him I want you to see something with me here notice how David is described in verse 18 I want you to see this in a moment to develop an application one of the servants answered and said look I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing a mighty man of valor a man of war prudent in speech a handsome person the Lord is with him what is the first thing that is mentioned about David there notice with me for a moment he is a skillful musician but why is that important what does that really matter he is a skilled mighty man of valor he is prudent, handsome and anointed he obviously has gained a good reputation but the first thing that is spoken of concerning him is he is skilled he is a warrior but first he is a worshiper I want you to see that he is a worshiper and a warrior there are a lot of people who want to be warriors who are not worshippers they want to be used by God but they don't spend time with God David was someone who spent time with God worshipping God it is interesting when you begin to see how people assess their lives if you had the opportunity to write what is going to be on your headstone when you are buried when you die what would it be what would it be if you were to choose if you were to select what you wanted people who would walk by and look at that gravesite and see that headstone there and see your name and see the birth date and the year of your death and they see that what do you want what would you want to be placed there I think it is something that though I don't think about every day it is something that I am aware of I do want something that will communicate in a few words what was the substance of my life what was it all about what was it all about in five words or less a man's life when David began to speak concerning his own I find this interesting it is found in 2 Samuel 23 verse 1 this is what David said I want you to hear this thus says David the son of Jesse thus says the man raised up John high the anointed of the God of Jacob the sweet psalmist of Israel how interesting that when he began to speak of himself he referred to himself as the sweet psalmist of Israel that title you have heard it before people have used that title of David they call him the sweet psalmist well there is a reason why it is because out of the 150 psalms that we have in our Old Testament he wrote 75 of them 75 songs hit songs by King David you find him in the Psalms 75 out of 150 were written by the sweet psalmist now why didn't he say the man who slew Goliath why didn't he say that Goliath we will see next week 9 foot 9 9 foot 9 the Lakers could use him 9 foot 9 huge David probably 5 foot 6 Goliath is almost twice his height if I brought my granddaughter Sophia out and placed her next to me that would be the difference in size between David basically and Goliath huge difference but he didn't speak like that did he he didn't say David the one who slew Goliath David who got the distress and those in debt brought him together and made an army that was unbelievable he didn't say that either did he he didn't speak concerning his accomplishments when he was speaking concerning his last days he said I am the sweet psalmist of Israel why did you say that because worship is where you become a warrior you have to worship God before you can fight battles in the name of God that's why that's why there are a lot of people who want to be warriors who don't worship, who don't spend time with the Lord don't have any devotions to speak of never get into the Word of God at all when they are in their cars they are not listening to Christian music and they are not listening to Christian radio they are listening to everything the world has to offer them and then they wonder why they are not being used by the Lord they wonder why God isn't using them it's because they are not sold out it's because the world has got them 99% of the time and then they wonder how come my life isn't going so well I want to be used by God wasted potential wasted potential but not David but not David when they began to speak of David they said this is a man who worships and this is a man that ought to be here to bring soothing to you because a worshipper can do that a person who knows God can bring words of wisdom to you can sing songs of praise to God that will soothe you and that's how it works I've discovered in times of my stress and times of my pain the best thing that I can do is I turn on some Christian worship music and I allow God to minister to me through music and I worship him I sing to him open up the Word pray through a Psalm and ask the Lord's guidance and strength it starts with worship guys I was a young believer I was going to a particular church that had an evangelist for a pastor and I have always been blessed to see people get saved but I didn't like their music and so I knew that I could show up 25 minutes into the service which I did and I would walk in because within 25 minutes the singing was done and now he's going to preach and they're going to be an invitation people are going to get saved I did that for a long long time a long time and I started drying up inside and I didn't know why and I finally discovered it's because worship was not a priority to me singing songs to God really wasn't a priority to me I wanted Bible study but I didn't want to sing my heart out to him be careful that you don't do that it dried me up be careful that you don't do that be careful that you don't look at your watch and say right now we got time be careful not to do that because if you're going to be used by the Lord in a mighty way you need to learn to worship him David did David learned to worship him and that's why he's used in the way that he was he was used by God because he was a man of God they said we can bring David to you and that's what they did he's a young man he's caring for the sheep that's true but we'll bring him to you and David approaches David comes and he brings with him some gifts they loaded donkey with wine and and meat and he brings it to Saul and David comes and stands before Saul and the Bible tells us that David loved Saul greatly and he became his armor bearer and armor bearer as I mentioned to you earlier when we looked at Jonathan and his armor bearer and armor bearer was the most trusted person they would lay their life down for the person that they were carrying the armor for and David was a man of loyalty and you're going to see this man's character as it's outlined for us the way that he was towards this man a man who ultimately grew so jealous of David that he wanted to slay him because David became a song on the voice of the lips of the people of Israel saw his slaying his thousands and when Saul heard that he said I've lost my kingdom to this young man and more than once he tries to kill him but God preserves him we're going to have an opportunity to see how God works in the life of a man a man like David who's a worshiper and a warrior and maybe we'll learn how to be both ourselves our father I asked that you would work in us I asked that you would work in us today Lord that we might learn to worship you in spirit and in truth to love singing songs of praise to you Lord to love your word to love to pray to love to share the good things that you do in our lives with others may we not be victims Lord of wasted potential may we not be people who are selling out our birthright for a bowl of soup for a moment of pleasure I lift up the young people in this room but I also lift up we who are older some who have wasted an entire life and now are looking back over their life saying so many things could have been done that I didn't choose to do God I pray that you would help us not to waste what you've given to us that we would live in such a way Lord is to make use of those gifts you gave to us every day may we be serious about these things in our own hearts may it be the overriding factor a love for you and a desire to to serve and worship you that we become known for even when it costs even when we're rejected by friends and family neighbors and coworkers or students that we end class with Lord we're going to mock us yes and are going to reject us God I just ask that we would just love you may we become worshipers and may we be warriors who serve you Lord faithfully our eyes are closed our heads are bowed perhaps I have some in this room right now who need to get right with the Lord I want to pray for you right where you're at if you need to get right with Jesus right now would you raise your hand let me pray for you right now father you see these hands you know the reason why they're being raised to you Lord I'm praying that you would reach down now and touch them and they're casting their cares on you because you care for them Lord in Jesus name I pray that you would now wash them and cleanse them strengthen them from the inside forgive them of their sins cleanse them Lord and make them into vessels for honor from this day forward may they be used by you Lord mightily use them to your glory we pray thank you Lord you can put your hands down and Jesus I ask that you keep moving in all of us may we be serious about you and the things that pertain to you and we ask this now in your name amen let's all stand we'll close with the word of prayer and with the final song as I've encouraged you tonight you might want to be there for the truth project hope to see you tomorrow night Wednesday night may the Lord bless you father I ask that you work in us and use us for your glory we're about to leave this place and enter into the mission field may we be found faithful as we serve you we give you praise and honor in Jesus name amen God bless you