 in 1 Kings chapter 3. So keep your place there. We're going to be using this story in the Bible for our sermon this evening. So this is the story, of course, 1 Kings chapter 3 about how Solomon got to be so smart. How did he get all his wisdom? And I think there's a lot we can learn from this story. That's what we're going to look at this morning as far as, you know, I mean, sometimes I think, you know, as I preach so many sermons, I was just, I was pondering on this the last couple of weeks. And I was thinking, you know, we talk about a lot of doctrine here. You know, we really dig into the Bible, especially Wednesday nights. We really, we go verse by verse through chapters in the Bible. And we look at every single thing that the Bible has to tell us there, you know, doctrine, heavy, heavy stuff, right? I mean, just the depth of Galatians we've looked at throughout the last few weeks. You know, heavy stuff, basic stuff. We reinforce the gospel here. You know, that's Galatians, right? It was reinforcing the gospel. Here you had teaching brought into a church that was perverting the gospel. And, you know, Paul is just reinforcing the gospel throughout Galatians using the Old Testament, proving that the gospel has never changed. Why would we change it now? It didn't change after Jesus came. It was always the same, even with the gospel of Abraham. We preach on all this stuff here. We preach against sin here. You know, we preach against things that, you know, you probably won't hear at a lot of other churches. In the Bible, we preach against it. We preach against the way the world is going here. I mean, we, I mean, we talk about, you know, where we should be holding when the world is, you know, just heading in the complete wrong direction. But I think, you know, as we look at 1 Kings chapter 3 this morning, you know, the topic I think we need to talk more about is, you know, our walk with the Lord. You know, who is God? You know, who is God and how does He respond to us? How are we supposed to respond to Him? You know, what's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd? You know, how is God going to respond to us in our lives? I mean, I understand we aren't saved by works. But, you know, our walk with God is very important. Essentially, you're all, you know, hopefully you're all saved this morning. But essentially, you know, you're saved, but you still have free will in your life. Just like you had free will before you were saved. You still have free will as after you're saved. Okay? You know, I mean, look, we're all saved believers here. Hopefully, we're saved by the fact that we have trusted in Jesus Christ, saved, sealed. That's it. There's nothing that's ever going to change that. But look, we can do whatever we want in our lives. And many Christians do just that. They get saved. They take that salvation and they do nothing in their lives for the Lord. And they feel like they can just go and do whatever they want in their lives. They can and not be unsaved. But I mean, then those same people, however, and this is why I want to get to the story in First Kings chapter 3. Those same people that get saved by nothing by their works, you know, just by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Those same people, they live a life of free will, however they want. And then they're confused about the events in their lives and how these things are playing out. Look down at First Kings chapter 3. First Kings chapter 3. And look at verse number five. The Bible says, And God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou has showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy. According as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee. And thou has kept him from this day, kept for him this great kindness that thou has given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day. And now, O my Lord God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father. And I am but a little child. I know not how to go out or come in. So first of all, we see a great humility by Solomon here. He's saying, you know, I don't know anything. He's saying, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm just a kid. Solomon was somewhere south of 20 when he became king. I don't know. I think he was probably, personally, probably 12 or 13 or 14 years old. He was a teenager. And he became king of a kingdom. Think about that. Think of one of the teenagers in this church running a nation. Scary, right? No, I'm just kidding. But I mean, I'd rather have one of the teenagers in this church run a nation than some other teenager. Okay? But look, he was humble. He approached the Lord with humility. Look at verse number eight. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hath chosen a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. This explains what, by the way, just a side note, why you should never do a census on God's people. Okay? Because, you know, the Bible says in God's promises where, you know, the people will be without number and they'll be a great people. And, you know, by doing a census, you're kind of saying, is there really that many? You know, are they really that great? Look at verse number nine. So that's how David got in so much trouble. It was a lack of faith in God. And here you see that Solomon just has that great faith. He just says, I know these people are great and I know they're without number. Look at verse number nine. Give thy servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and bad for who is able to judge this so great a people. So, look, verse number ten says, the speech pleased the Lord. It pleased the Lord. Essentially, Solomon here did the right thing. You know, he was humble first. He looked at the job in front of him and he said, who am I? He said, who am I to do this job? Turn to 1 Peter chapter five. So he said, you know, I'm just a kid. I don't know what I'm doing. You know, who am I to do this great job? I mean, my father, you've obviously blessed my father by keeping the kingdom, you know, with his son. But I mean, please help me figure out how to judge these people, how to rule these people. Look at 1 Peter chapter five and verse number six. The Bible says, humble yourself there under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. In James chapter four, I'll just read it for you. Verse number six, the Bible says, but he giveth more grace. Wherefore he said, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. So God, first of all, God responds to humility in our lives. Solomon asked, what really Solomon did was he asked for something, and this is what pleased God so much. He asked for something that would benefit the people instead of himself. He asked for something that was, you know, for the nation that he was going to be ruling instead of, you know, what probably most people would ask for, which was, you know, things for himself. Turn to Proverbs chapter 28. Essentially, what Solomon did here was he proved himself faithful in this moment to God. Look at Proverbs chapter 28. Proverbs chapter 28, look down at verse number 20. Proverbs chapter 28, look at verse number 20. Right in the center of your Bible, just past Psalms, you'll find the book of Proverbs. Look at verse number 20. The Bible here says, a faithful man shall abound with blessings. But he that make a haste to be rich shall not be innocent. Look, this is Solomon right here. Okay, this is Solomon. Solomon proved himself faithful, but the opposite of this, you know, Proverbs is opposites, right? It's saying, if you do this, this will happen. But if you don't, this will happen. So in this verse, the Bible is saying, a faithful man will abound with blessings. But he that make a haste, look, he that's just looking for something for himself, you know, shall not be innocent. So the opposite of being faithful is being self-centered and being focused only on yourself and making yourself rich, which is exactly what pleased the Lord that Solomon didn't do. God even mentioned it. He said, because you didn't ask for a long life and riches, he's like, I'm going to grant you all these things. So look, the point I'm trying to make this morning is a simple one. Okay, do you feel confused at times in your life? I'm sure many of you do. Are you confused on why God is not moving in your life? If this is you, if things are not going the way that you plan them to go, I mean, look, as a saved Christian, you need to understand this simple point. And look, it's a shame if you don't understand this. Solomon, look, here's the point I'm trying to make this morning. Solomon was faithful first. He was faithful first, and then God responded. Okay, look, I mean, it's not a chicken or an egg. It's faithful first, and then God responds. That's how God works. That's the whole point of what I want to try to get across this morning. And you say, well, how can I be faithful if I'm not in a place where I want to be? How could I be faithful? Well, exactly. That's exactly what you need to do. Solomon was not ready to be king here. It's important that he recognized that he had nothing that he needed to be king. He was just a kid. He was just a kid. Turn to Luke chapter 16. He was just a kid and he was about to rule a nation. Think about that. Look at Luke chapter 16 in verse number 10. This morning, I'm telling you, let me just apply this story to all of your lives this morning. This morning, I'm telling you that if you want to have a successful walk with the Lord in your life, you need to be faithful first. Look at Luke chapter 16 in verse number 10. The Bible says, he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. You say, I just don't have much to be faithful over right now. Exactly. You say, I don't know. I don't really have anything to be, you know, look if you're faithful in your walk with the Lord, you know, look, turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Let's just talk about being faithful to the things of God. Let's talk about being faithful to God in your life. I mean, are you faithful with your walk with the Lord? Are you proving yourself to be faithful? Look at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25. We talk about this verse a lot. This is a verse that people today, it seems, don't want to, you know, they just kind of want to delete it from the Bible. The Bible says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the matter of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching. Look, the Bible says that you should go to church. That's what this is saying. I mean, it is one of the most clear commands in the Bible. It's ironic that we go out every single week soul winning. And you know, one thing that we're finding is that just not a lot of people go to church anymore. They just don't go anymore. It's just changed. You know, people don't go to church. It's just, I mean, it's rare to find someone that goes to church now. It's weird. I mean, he used to be able to find people. They go to different churches. They go to false churches, whatever. But I mean, it's rare. It's rare to find people just in general. I mean, if you find somebody today out soul winning that says, yes, I go to this church and I'm going every week or whatever. That's, that's strange today. I actually can't remember the last time that I found somebody that regularly goes to church out soul winning. But let's look at ourselves here this morning. Are you faithful to the house of God? You know, people, look, people ask me all the time. One of the, you know, I don't really like people asking me this, but it's just, it's one of those things as a satellite leader that when you visit other places, people, you know what the one thing people ask first? How many people are going to your church? How many people are going to your church? That's what everybody wants to know. And I'll be honest with you. I have no idea. It's either 30 or 60. It depends. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I don't know. First of all, I don't really, it's not a metric that I really care too much about because God will grow the church. But I mean, personally, you know, I don't really know how many people come to church here because it all depends on the week. I mean, do you look for an excuse to not go to church? I mean, the first question is, if you do, the question is why? The question is why? Is going to church, here's a better, here's a better way to put the question, is going to church every Sunday or Wednesday a decision that you make every week? That's the question. Do you decide, you know, well, are we going to church today? Look, I'm telling you right now, it's not one that I make. That is not a decision that, I mean, I have some decisions that I make during the week. That is not one of them. And you all, look, you all should be glad for that. It's not just a decision. I mean, no matter the week or the circumstance, we just go to church. That's it. And you say, of course, you're the preacher. Of course, you're the preacher. Of course, you don't make the decision. But look, here's the thing. As far as me and not making that decision, my decision list for the week, that's not on it. But you know what? It's not because I'm the preacher. That has nothing to do with it. It is not because, I mean, the reason is because I am going to be faithful first in my life. That's why. I am going to serve God no matter what in my life. I will be at this house when the doors are open, rain or shine, even though it never rains here. I mean, that's just it. I mean, look, there is, you say, here, let me give you a story. Before, I was the preacher here. We were going to church. It was actually a few months before we left to move to Fresno. And we had a situation where in our family, one of our kids was going through, like, a medical condition that made it very difficult to be in church. But you know what my thinking was, and I was talking to my wife about it this morning, we never said, like, should we go to church or not? We're like, we really need to go to church now. It's a completely different attitude. It's a completely different mindset. It's a completely different heart where you're like, you know what, I really need to be faithful right now because I need some help right now. And I know, look, I know how God works. I need to be faithful first. Look, I'm not talking about salvation. I'm not talking about this. I'm talking about my walk with the Lord. I mean, I need some help. I need some help right now. And the first person I'm going to walk away from is the one person that can help me. I mean, what in the world? I don't understand this attitude that people have. I really, I mean, I don't get it. That's why this sermon. Say, why the sermon? This is why, because I don't understand. Help me understand. No, I do understand. I don't want to understand. But the problem is it's a mindset. It's really a hard issue. If coming to church or, you know, walking with the Lord is the decision that you make on a daily basis, you know, there's a problem there. And you say, this is a basic message. Well, why could we have 60 people here this morning or 28? Why? I mean, here's the answer. It's because some of you make this decision every single week. Some of you make this decision every Sunday and every Wednesday. I mean, you know, some of you, quite frankly, are visitors. You know, that's kind of how I look at it. If you make a decision every single week on whether or not to come to church, you're a visitor. I mean, personally, I'm glad you're all here whenever you're here. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I'm glad to see, but the point is that you can't make time for God. And not only, look, it's not only just church. It's in your life in general. It's in your life in general. You know, if you can't, you know, make time to pray. You can't make time to pray, you know, on a daily basis with the Lord. And then you're going to pray, you know, when there's an emergency that pops up. I mean, look, you haven't been faithful first. I mean, these are things, and I'm talking about these things, you know, your church life, your prayer life, your Bible reading life, you know, just spending time with God every single day and every single week. These are things, here's the thing about these things. These are things you can do no matter what's going on in your life. These are things that you could be going through the most difficult times. Look, that was a difficult time for us, and you can be faithful. Like, it doesn't look, all those things. I mean, if you can't make time for God, what makes you think God's going to make time for you? I mean, Solomon, look, Solomon moved first, and then God responded to him. Look, think of it this way. Turn to Isaiah chapter one. Think of it this way. It's how God, how God moves in your life is an if-then statement. It's an if-then statement, and it's actually, it's in the Bible. It's right here. Look at Isaiah chapter one, and look at verse number 19. God promises, look, God promises a lot of things in the Bible. Okay, He promises you salvation if you believe on and trust in His Son. Look, all the other promises are an if-then statement. If you do this, then I will do this. All the other promises other than your salvation is an if-then statement. If you do this, I will move. Look at Isaiah chapter one and verse number 19. Even how He dealt with the entire nation of Israel, the entire Old Testament is an if-then statement on the nation of Israel. Look at Isaiah chapter one and verse 19, and this is, I mean, I could throw out 200 verses like this. If ye be willing, if, ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Look, this is how God deals with nations right here. If you follow me and love me, then I will do these things and I will bless you as a nation and all these things. Look, God deals with nations exclusively on this level right here. That's why, you know, like, I mean, even like you look at the nation of Israel, these people that just believe that the nation of Israel, like today, is just going to be blessed no matter what. I mean, they're just like, what? Are you not reading the Bible? The nation of Israel in the Old Testament wasn't blessed no matter what. They were judged many, many times. I mean, our nation, I mean, this idea that, like, all we have to do is just agree with everything Israel today does and we're going to be blessed. I mean, think about this for a second. Here's just a thought experiment for you. Have we been blessed since 1948 as a nation? Think about this. If you could have a time machine and go back in the United States of America in 1948, 1949, 1950, would it be a better country there morally than it is today? Or would it be worse? Look, somebody from, if you could transport somebody from the 50s into today, they would freak out. They would go crazy. I mean, they would be like, what in the world is going on here? To say that our nation has been blessed for the last 50, 60, 70 years, boy, is that a stretch. But look, that aside, maybe you think, you know, personally, let's go back to you personally. Maybe you think that, you know, you've got this thing on your own. You know, you need God. I mean, I guess that's one way to go. You know, I guess that's one way to go. But what I'm trying to get you to understand this morning is this idea that we see in First Kings chapter three with Solomon. This is a methodology. Okay? This is a methodology. And you know, here's another way we can tell that it's of God because it's written in our hearts. Because men, look, I'm telling you, men, whether they be saved or unsaved, all men follow this methodology. You say, what are you talking about? Look, it works everywhere. It works everywhere. Kids, it works with you. Right? Kids, do you want favor from your parents? If you're just a disobedient child, you never listen to your parents, you know, you're not going to get much favor from your parents. But as a child, if you prove yourself obedient, you prove yourself faithful, look, now you're going to start having, you know, some favor, your parents are going to start moving in your direction. I mean, it works with children. I mean, it works in your work life. It works at your job. Think about this. I mean, look, everybody in your work life is not saved. This is how you know that it's just in the conscience of man, this idea. This is why starting a new job is tough. Like, getting the job is easy. Starting a new job is very difficult. Why? Because of this methodology that we're talking about. Because, I mean, it's all about you performing at that point. You start a new job, nobody knows. Nobody knows who you are. Nobody knows what you can do, what you can't do, whether you're going to show up or not. The resumes and the interviews and all of that stuff, it's all fake once you get the job. It doesn't matter at that point. At that point, they're just looking at, you know, hey, you know, what is this guy actually about? We know what he said he's about. What's he actually going to do now? Look at a new job. It's difficult starting a new job because you have to prove yourself faithful first. You have to prove yourself faithful first. And look, and here's the thing. You're under the microscope. For those first few months, I mean, until you prove yourself, until you prove yourself faithful, then look, then come the rewards, right? Then comes the response from the boss or the company or whatever they added responsibility, right? I mean, look, here's the thing. If you're not given more, I mean, you hear this all the time. You know, I've heard it from several people here and other places. If you're not given more responsibility at your job, the problem is you. The problem is that you've not proved yourself faithful first. How do I know this? I know this because, look, a boss would love to have somebody just take over everything and do everything for him. He could just go golfing and fishing all the time. But the problem is, the problem that you have with, you know, business owners or bosses or whatever, is that they don't have anybody that's faithful that can be trusted. They can give those things too. So the thing is, I mean, if you look at the front of your bulletin, the Bible there is telling you that you first have to be proven faithful in the small things. And once you're proven faithful in the small things, look, here's the thing. They don't want you wrecking something big. God's the same way. God's the same way. They don't want you wrecking something big. So if you've ever wondered, why aren't they giving me more responsibility here? Look, the question that you should be asking is, you're asking the wrong questions. You should be asking, what do I need to work on? What do I need to get better at? Where do you think that, you know, I'm struggling, you know, and after this, after this, and after you fix those things, will come the new responsibilities, will come the more, the bigger things that you're going to become, you know, get to be faithful at. And then here comes the skills that you're going to learn. Here comes the raises and the promotions and all of these things, but you first have to prove yourself faithful. And it starts with the small things. Turn to Proverbs chapter 31. Proverbs chapter 31. Ladies, you say, all right, you're really giving it to the guys this morning. Well, I mean, it's no different for the ladies. The methodology's all the same. Proverbs 31 11. Look what the Bible says. The Bible says of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 11, the heart of her husband, that safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. Why does this man trust his wife? I mean, think about this. Here's a guy, here's a guy that he's off doing whatever he's got to do during the days, running his business, he's working, whatever. And his wife, this virtuous woman, is at home and she's doing all these things. In Proverbs chapter 31, I just gave it away right there. She's doing all. Look, he doesn't trust in her because she's good looking. He doesn't trust in her because, you know, she wears certain clothes or whatever. He trusts in her because of the things that she does. He trusts in her because of the very next verse says she will do him good. And then it just goes off into all the details of all the things that she does. And that's how he trusts her. I mean, she's proven herself faithful. But she was faithful first. And then he trusted her. I mean, does your husband trust you? Does he know that when he leaves, everything is taken care of? Does he know that that the school is going to run for the kids, that the home, that the plan that he has and you've worked out together with your family is going to run like a clock? Does he know that? Look, my wife was gone this week and boy, was there a missing piece? You know, I mean, we tried not to touch anything in the house and we tried not to, I mean, it just all fell apart within just a matter of two or three days. It's to the point where it's like, we got to go camping. We got to get out of here. But here's the thing, your husband wants to trust in you. There is no better feeling. There's no better feeling. And I've had this feeling for years and I'm so thankful for it. There's no better feeling than just knowing that whatever, look, whatever I have to deal with out in the world, whatever I'm dealing with at work, whatever I'm dealing with, with people or problems or whatever, I just know that everything's taken care of at home. There, I mean, if there's a better feeling in the world, I don't know. Because, I mean, just having that piece, because look, that's the important thing. That's the important thing. Whatever I'm doing to try to wrangle a paycheck every single week, there's nothing more important than knowing that the kids are taken care of, than knowing that the house is taken care of, than knowing that the kids are getting an education, they're getting a biblical worldview instilled in them, so they'll be able to deal with this garbage when they grow old and they'll go in the way that they're supposed to go. There's nothing more important than that. And that's why that feeling is so important. That's why that husband, he safely trusts in her. He safely trusts in her and he has no need of spoil. If I had to take, I mean, I would need spoil in like another week because I mean, we were dying there trying to take care of ourselves and I mean, look, it's, the next generation is dependent on it. The next generation is dependent on Proverbs 31. The next generation is dependent on these kids being trained up properly. And as Deuteronomy chapter six says, it's an all day process. It's when they rise up in the morning to when they go to bed at night. That's what it takes. But this woman proved herself faithful first and that's why her husband trusted in her. So does your husband, I mean, does he know that when he leaves, everything is taken care of? Does he know that, you know, look, he wants that feeling. I guarantee it. He wants that feeling. So you say, you say, you know, I see what you're saying, but you know, things aren't working out in my life in general. You know, I don't like, you know, look, this sermon is why. I mean, you think that, I mean, God can do anything that he wants for you in your life. I used to be this type of person before I was saved when people would say, well, the Lord's just leading me in this direction and the Lord's just doing this. I'd kind of roll my eyes at those people. I mean, that wasn't even saved at the time, but I was like, you know what, God's not really involved in this thing. I used to think this way when I was younger, but it's not the case. God can move anything in your favor that he wants. This is not a prosperity message. This is a point that, look, if you're trying, try it, look, just try to do what you're supposed to do first. Try, I mean, try being obedient and faithful for more than five minutes in a row in your life. And then, and then, look, maybe God will move in your life. But look, it takes more than five minutes. It takes more than five days. You say, you know, you say, I want God to move first. I mean, you see people, they must think that. They must think that, that they just want God to move first in their life. You say, I just want, I want God to do this for me, and then when God does this for me, then I'll do this. Well, you know, here's the thing, you're a spoiled brat. You know, it would just be like a child saying that. A child that comes up to their, to their dad, and you know, they're just like, you know, data, I want the keys to the car, and I want to go drive around, and every single time that they've been given the keys in the past, they wreck the car. And they're like, well, just give me the keys, and let me just, no, no, no, you prove you can drive first. You prove that you can, you can be faithful first. There's no reason that, I mean, you're spoiled brat, if that's the case. Never obeys his parents, and expects his parents just to give him, you know, look, they have zero trust in a child like that. That's the problem. And what are we entrusted with? Think about this. What are we entrusted with? Aren't we entrusted with, I mean, think about like, a parent trusting their child with something, or a business owner trusting, you know, their, their employee with something. You know, a business owner just putting his most irresponsible employee in charge of the operations day to day of a really important business. Think about that. I mean, think about this guy that like, maybe has like a, a shipping business where things are just coming in and out constantly, and if things get messed up, things go to the wrong place, and it'll literally where like, the customers, like the trust, the trust is super important, and if, if they, if they wreck things one time with a customer, then the business will just go south immediately. Think about a business like that, and they're just taking the most irresponsible employee and putting him in charge of the business and just going golfing, or whatever. It would be a disaster. You know what the most important business God has on earth is this local church. The most important, I mean, you are part of you are part of the most important local business that God has on earth. And what, what are we entrusted with? We're entrusted with the gospel, getting it out to Fresno, getting it out to the outer parts, getting it out to everywhere. That's what we're entrusted with. So you think, you know, you think that, you know, God's just gonna take like some irresponsible, you know, party. I mean, look, that's why there's all these qualifications for the ministry. First of all, I mean, you can't just take the most irresponsible person that shows up to the business once every month and be like, hey, you want to run the place? This is God's most important business. I mean, number one, you know, it's tough to be one foot in in a church like this. I get it. But the reason for it is because it's the most focused thing that God has here. It is our responsibility to, I mean, look, 99% of the people out there, okay, you're an optimist. 98% of the people out there are going to hell. And it's our job to preach the truth. Look, it's the truth of it. And if people don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if people don't get the truth, when there's plenty of people spreading a false truth, spreading lies out there, that's the business of this church. So, I mean, if you can't take the most important thing that God has seriously, I mean, it's his business. It's his business. If you can't be trusted, I mean, with the most important, he'll never give you more. But think about it. Think about the main, look, I mean, my wife and I were talking about this on the phone earlier, but this last week, but it's just, I just want to be able to do something with the short time that I have on this earth. And it's sad to see people, even saved people that, you know, just, they're just not going to use their time. They're just, they're going to take that salvation. They're not going to use that time. And, you know, they're just going to waste it all. But the Bible talks about, especially James chapter two in other places in the Bible about how you'll profit no one. Other people are going to suffer for that. You'll still get your salvation, but other people are going to suffer for that. Go back to First Kings chapter three. Go back to First Kings chapter three. Look at verse number 11 of First Kings chapter three. Look, I fear, I fear that some people, you know, this is, I mean, this is a complicated message this morning, but I just fear that some people are just never going to learn this. And that's why I thought maybe I need to, I need to hit this this morning. But look, don't be that guy because if you can prove yourself faithful in your life, in your Christian walk, God will respond to you. For sure. Look down at verse number 11. And look what God says to Solomon. He says, And God said unto him, because thou has asked this thing and not asked for thyself a long life, neither asked, asked riches for thyself. There's Proverbs chapter 28 right there, nor has asked the life of thine enemies, but hath asked for the thyself understanding to discern judgment. Behold, I have done according to thy works, and lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart so that there is none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I've also given thee that which hath thou hath not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall be not any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. And if thou shall walk, thou wilt walk in my ways. Now, right back into the if then statement, here we go again. To keep my statutes and my commandments as thy father David did walk, I will lengthen thy days. So he gives them everything. He's like, I'm going to give you wisdom and judgment that no one's ever seen before. That's how God can move. He moved more than anyone had ever seen God move in this area before to this point. Then he tells them, you know, you didn't ask for a long life, but look, I'm going to give you that too as long as you do these things. You keep these statutes and then look, here's the thing. And then, no, here's the thing after you prove that yourself faithful, God will move in your life, but then you have to continue in the Lord. You're like, oh man, you're like, not only do you have to prove yourself faithful, get moving, God will move with you, and then you have to continue through that. That's where Solomon fell short. And that's where many people fall short. You're like, this sounds like a lot of work. It is a lot of work. It is a lot of work. It's not a lot of work to get to heaven. That's free. But walking with God, because you know, proving yourself faithful to the God that saved you and then walking an entire life, look, most people fail that in the Bible. Most people, look, I mean, I did a chart one time of the kings that started out good and ended good. It's like 4% of them. You had a lot of them that started out well, but most of them ended bad. Doesn't mean that they weren't saved or that they didn't go to heaven. But look, the point is, continuing your whole life is a lot of work. You get saved and you're like, oh man, this is great. It's all new. But you know, you're going to get to a point in your life where a walk with God and soul winning and preaching the gospel and having people not want to hear it slam doors in your face. All this, it's going to seem like, it's going to seem like work at times. You're like, but church is fun. I know. I can't imagine why people don't like to come to church. I love it. I can't even remember the last time that I was like, ah, church. I mean, what in the world? It's a hard issue. I mean, this was like the perfect weekend. It was like fishing on Saturday, camping, and then church on Sunday. It's like, boom, it's like a cherry on top of an ice cream Sunday. But here's the thing. A walk, a walk with the Lord throughout your life is labor and it's going to feel that way at times. And that's normal. But you have to just make that decision that you're going to do it because God gives Solomon, he moves for Solomon. He moves here and he just gives him everything right away. But Solomon didn't continue. That's why we have the book of Ecclesiastes is because Solomon didn't continue in his life. You know, he continued for a while and then he just fell off the cliff and then he gives us the book of Ecclesiastes saying, don't waste your whole life. Because that will be what you will look back at. You know, as Solomon did at the end of his life and you'll say, you know what? I took this salvation and look at all the things that God did for me. And I wasted the whole thing. You know, that the water, your life is like a glass of water being poured on the ground. Your life is like a vapor. The little time that you have here and you could waste, you could waste it all. You could waste it all. So look, you have to be faithful first. If you're wondering why things aren't going the way that you think that they're going, try just being faithful first. Try it. Try being faithful in the things of the Lord. Try being faithful with everything that the Bible, everything that we preach here. Try being faithful in those things. Tell yourself, you know what? If it's in the Bible, I'm just going to do it. I don't want to do it, but I'm going to do it because it's in the Bible. And see what happens. Watch God move in your life. You know, this isn't, I mean, this isn't, you know, a prosperity gospel. This is just how God works right here. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.