 chapter 13 here in 1 Samuel, and we're going to be looking at the 13th chapter together as we continue our verse by verse study through 1 Samuel. So what we'll do is we'll look at verses 1 through 7, move into verse 8, and continue until we conclude our chapter. One last thought, also I was asked by our coordinator, our children's ministry head, if there are any who would like to or could be involved in serving in children's ministry, we're really at a point where we're in need of children's ministers, and so if you have a heart to minister and would like to get involved, we do invite you to do so before you leave. You can sign up for that. But here we are in chapter 13 verses 1 through 7. Let me read to you beginning at verse 1. I'll read to verse 7 and we'll get into our study. And what we're looking at here, guys, is the rejection of Saul as king over Israel. In 1 Samuel chapter 13 verse 1, Saul reigned one year. When he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel. 2,000 were with Saul in McMash and in the mountains of Bethel. 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent. And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Gibeah, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. Now all Israel heard, it's said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. The people were called together to Saul at Gilgal. Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel. 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in McMash to the east of Beth of N. When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger for the people were distressed, then the people hid in caves and thickets and rocks and holes and in pits. And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. Now verses 1 through 7 seem to be speaking of events that take place within the first two years of the reign of King Saul. Now we know that within the first two years he had battles. We know that he fought against the Ammonites, and we know here in this passage here that he's about to have battles with the Philistines. And so what we have here is we have him basically getting his power or coalescing his power and becoming king. And this is all taking place within the first two years. And so what happens is verse 2 tells us that he chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel. Now 2,000 were with him in McMash and the mountains of Bethel, 1,000 were with Jonathan and Gibiah, Benjamin, and the rest of the people he sent away every man to his tent. And so what he begins to do is he begins to have certain men that are gathered together to him to be kind like a contingent. He has more of a security force that he's developing. We saw in chapter 10 verse 26 that there were certain men who were valiant men who vowed to serve him. What he's doing now is he's adding these men to himself. So he's choosing 3,000 men. Now that becomes a habit of his because later on in chapter 14 verse 52 we see when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man he would take that man for himself. So he began to develop a security force. He kept 2,000 of them with him in a place called McMash. If you're looking at a map of Israel and you're looking at the city of Jerusalem which is in the south, what you have is you have McMash which is about seven miles to the north and to the east of Jerusalem. So this gives us an insight into where all of this is taking place. It's taking place in the south. All of the things, all these names and name places that you see are taking place. These things are taking place down there in the south. And so he's got 2,000 with him up there in this area. The other thousand are placed under his son Jonathan's command in Gibiah which is a few miles south of him. The rest of these people are sent home. Now as this is taking place, verse 3, Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines. That was in Gibiah and the Philistines heard of it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land saying, let the Hebrews hear. Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines and the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal. And so what happens here is Jonathan attacks this garrison and it's in a place called Gibiah. Now Gibiah is about one and a half miles south of south of the McMash. They have a garrison of Philistines there. Now when you see the word garrison, I looked it up. I wanted to know how many soldiers were looking at and there was no actual number given for a garrison of Philistines. So a garrison usually at that time would represent at least 50 soldiers. And so a garrison was a unit of specialized troops with a duty of protecting a specified area. And so that's what he's doing. He's attacking these specialized troops. And what happens is he's a brave soldier and he attacks them and intends to overwhelm them. So he attacks this garrison. Well after Jonathan attacks the garrisons, the Philistines begin to rally their forces. But as this is taking place, I want you to see something in verse four. It says, all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison at the Philistines of the Philistines and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines and the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal. I want to speak to you a little bit about that because there's a place of application here. What we have here, and I want you to notice verse four, all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines. Now wait a minute, Saul hadn't been the one who attacked that garrison. Who attacked that garrison? His son Jonathan did. Jonathan's the one who attacked the garrison. It says it in verse three, Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Gava. So here we have a man by the name of Saul taking credit for something his son did. We're getting an insight into the character of this man. We're getting an insight into the fact that this is a man who wants to build his reputation on something his children do. This is a guy who's not willing to let his own son receive the honor for being a courageous warrior but rather blows his own horn because that's what he does. It says in verse three, Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land saying let the Hebrews hear. And what he's doing is he's calling them, he's calling the troops because he knows that there's going to be a problem but he also is becoming aware of the fact that Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines. This is a man who needed attention. This is a man who needed to hear his name spoken so much that he'd even use his own son to gain attention. He needed to hear that he was important to the people and respected by the people and so I want to make a real quick point here but it's a point of application. When someone is truly seeking to serve the Lord, receiving personal attention for it is not that important. Sometimes people want to be seen as important and they want people to give them attention and unfortunately you can see that sometimes even in ministry where somebody doesn't get thanked for doing something and before you know it they leave ministry, they leave the church because nobody said thank you, nobody recognized my efforts. Saul was somebody like that to the degree that he was willing to even use his own kid to garner respect in a nation when it was his son Jonathan who did the warring. It was Jonathan who should have been commended but it was Saul who began to blow his own trumpet and it was Saul who needed the recognition. We've heard it said if you don't promote yourself nobody else will promote you. But I've come to believe very strongly it's always best to simply do your work and let God take care of the attention you receive if you ever receive any. Years ago and it's been many years ago now when I started playing Little League baseball so we're going into ancient history for just a moment. 1959 I got into Little League and then you know we had different divisions so it was the lowest division and we had tryouts I ended up being drafted into at that time what we're called the majors and so from in 1960 at the age of 10 I was placed in the majors. Now to me that was a big thing because the Peewees used to have just the they were kind of like the minor leagues they had t-shirts and hats but the major leagues had full uniforms and so for me that was really a neat thing and I can remember being on this particular team but I also remember that during that season in 1960 during the summer of 1960 actually 61 they had they had 20 games and in 20 games plus the preseason games each game representing six innings in 20 games plus preseason I played a grand total I still remember it a grand total of 10 innings four of those innings came in preseason then 19 consecutive games I sat the bench I never even got my uniform dirty unless I tripped when I was walking on the field I used to sit there I sat there on the bench chewing the edge of my glove and I would turn to the coach and I'd say put me in coach throw me in I want to play do you know for 19 solid games I didn't play an inning the last game when nothing mattered they let me play the full game that's how I got those extra six innings in over the season it was a time guys when when you didn't get to play simply because you're on the team it was a time when the teams actually had to win the trophy everybody didn't get trophies just for suiting up today we have everybody gets a trophy because we don't want to hurt anybody's feelings at that time it didn't matter if you won you got a trophy if you didn't win you didn't get one it was that simple and and you didn't have to play and I have to tell you it was tough it was very hard it was to be seated there in your uniform having kids throw a ball at you when you're sitting there just bully you on the bench was not a lot of fun and I would sit there and I wanted to play I mean I suited up for this I want to play I can play why am I not playing and I went through that for all of those games 22 23 games four innings out of 22 games and then six innings the last game when it doesn't matter and so I learned some lessons the next year I played half they play me they play another guy the next year I played every game I was an all-star but you know what you start out when with nothing and you ended up having the joy of doing well and I learned some lessons I learned lessons I learned that just because you suit up doesn't mean you're going to play I learned that that you may have qualities and gifts and abilities but don't push yourself don't try and become the person that that the coach is going to use simply because you keep nagging and whining I learned those lessons because I discovered that there are things you learn on the bench that you won't learn on the field and I learned a lot of lessons I have to tell you had a lot of time to learn on that bench when my son Dave was playing ball he was a good ball player in Little League and for whatever reason he wasn't starting in and I watched the same thing happening to him to happen to me and they throw him in in the last inning or the last you know had to have at least one at bat or whatever the rule was and and they throw him in and all and I finally said son do you want me to transfer you want me to get a trade going so you can be on another team so you can play what do you want me to do he said I want to I want to stick it out dad and I said that's that'll be a good thing you're going to be some lessons you're learning on the bench that you're not going to learn on the field learn the lessons and I said to him make sure that you do not say to the coach throw me in because I said it would be just your fortune for you to be put in the ball would come rolling past you you'll lose the game and you're insisting I said no let him put you in that way if you do badly it's his fault not yours just sit the bench and learn your lesson just learn the lessons of character learn the lessons of patience learn the lesson of being a team player learn to learn the lesson of being able to cheer for the team without having to be the main player learn some of those lessons because those are the lessons that will serve you well in life those are the lessons that serve you well in life now we live in a time when being a team player really isn't that important I mean here's some more ancient history for you the Dodgers came from Brooklyn they're here in Los Angeles my dad took me to a game in the Coliseum I was around nine years old I remember going to the game with my dad in the Coliseum they're watching the LA Dodgers play and that was back in the 59 season and I remember that it was a team so I grew up from you know 1958-59 as a Dodger fan I don't ever mention that to you I don't run around wearing the gear and all but I've been watching the Dodgers to me the Angels are still a farm team sorry but so I like the Dodgers but I'll tell you this I'm watching the commercials and it's now Manny and the Dodgers when it become Manny and the Dodgers when it become Manny at all as far as I know a team requires nine players and a bench to back them up it's not just a one player how did it become Kobe and the Lakers he's a fantastic ball player the greatest I think NBA player I'm a Laker fan too but the bottom line is you got four guys playing alongside of you and a bench because if Kobe gets injured somebody better back them up but we live in a mentality now no it's Manny and the Dodgers it's Kobe and the Lakers and that's how it works and so we're not team players this nation is not filled with team players ministry can't be that way serving god can't be that way we're the body of christ there are many members but one body and so every person has a place every person in the body of christ has gifting and skills and abilities that they ought to be using in order to glorify Jesus christ and if we didn't have that here then what I would be doing right now is I would be teaching a home bible study on a Wednesday night with a handful of people because that's how this church began we didn't have children's ministry we didn't have worship teams we didn't need ushers we didn't need greeters we didn't need parking lot people we didn't need any of that and we would still be there if people didn't get the vision and get get turned on for god and say we want to do more than justice and it's not the david show it's the body of christ working together and one of the things that I see with king saw is he was very quick to blow his own horn to the degree that he was willing to steal glory from somebody else his own son think about that for a minute I think it's a parent's responsibility to want to see god use their kids in a greater way than they use that parent I want my kids to be used by god in a greater degree than I've ever been used I would love to see god use them tremendously but in whatever way I want them simply to be faithful to god I I have the same prayer for my grandchildren it's the same basic prayer it's not about one person never has been it's about Jesus christ he's the only one person that we should care about the rest of us are serving him Saul didn't understand that Saul didn't understand that he didn't need to come and get the glory now let me tell you one more thing one of the things to be very careful about and always aware of is this somebody who's always stealing the credit and always winding the glory is a dangerous person to have in a leadership position it's a dangerous person somebody who cannot give credit to other people is a dangerous person to have in leadership they are because everything that goes good they're going to take credit for anything that goes bad they're going to blame somebody else watch it and be aware of that because that's how it works in life Saul was a leader who needed to be known and look at what happens to him he's going to be rejected from the kingdom he's going to be rejected from kingship and so what happens here is people are starting to say Saul has attacked a garrison of the philistines well it gets the philistines upset first five the philistines gathered together to fight with Israel 30 000 chariots and 6 000 horsemen and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude and they came up and encamped in mcmash to the east of beth avan now for us to get an idea what that means when he speaks concerning these chariots that would be equivalent to tanks today a chariot was the ancient tank you're seeing thousands of tanks that are rolling against you you're seeing six thousand men in cavalry that are rolling against you plus a number of foot soldiers in other words this is an incredible amount of of foes adversaries that far overpower the few thousand that that's all has under his command and it's causing everybody to grow greatly greatly afraid verse six says in the men of israel saw that they were in danger for the people were distressed the people had hidden caves and thickets and rocks and holes and in pits and some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the east land of Gad and Gilead as for Saul he was still in Gilgal and all the people followed him trembling so he's down in the south these people are beginning to mount an offensive against him and they're very very afraid now as this is taking place here this hornet's nest has been stirred up they've responded to Jonathan's attack and this massive military build-up against Israel is occurring the people begin to run some remain but there are no position to fight they are absolutely petrified well verse eight he waited seven days according to the time set by Samuel but Samuel did not come to Gilgal and the people were scattered from him so Saul said bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me and he offered the burnt offering now it happened as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering that Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him that he might greet him Samuel said what have you done Saul said when I saw that the people were scattered from me and that you didn't come within the days appointed and that the Philistines gathered together at Miqvash then I said the Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal and I have not made supplication to the Lord therefore I felt compelled and offered a burnt offering Samuel said to Saul you've done foolishly you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God which he commanded you for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever but now your kingdom shall not continue the Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you now what we have here beginning at at verse 8 is a continuation of what had been broken off in chapter 10 in chapter 10 at verse 8 we read you shall go down before me to Gilgal surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings seven days you shall wait till I come to you and show you what you should do well Samuel delayed his arrival so Saul took charge began making the offerings now making the offering in and of itself wasn't wrong because in second Samuel 24 25 we see that David built an altar and offered a sacrifice what was wrong is he was revealing partial obedience he'd been told to wait seven days but by impatience he was not willing to do so Samuel didn't arrive when Saul expected him to so he took matters into his own hand and what this does is it reveals a partial obedience it reveals immaturity it reveals unbelief and it reveals that he's impetuous in spirit and that's what's taking place notice in verse 10 how it says it happened as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering that Samuel came this is a moment of divine timing Samuel walks up to Saul as Saul is making that burnt offering now a burnt offering is important because a burnt offering is an offering that is symbolic of total complete dedication that's what a burnt offering is it's completely burned as an offering to God so it's an offering of complete and total dedication to God what we have here is a guy who is making a burnt offering when in reality he is not completely sold out to God it's an act of hypocrisy and as this is taking place here comes Samuel as Samuel walks up and I want you to notice with me as Samuel walks up in verse 10 it says Saul went out to meet him that he might greet him that that Samuel might bring a blessing on him that Samuel might be happy to see him it's like if you had to go on an errand and you have a puppy and you left the dog in the house for just a moment and and you come back and that that dog got on the couch and has been ripping up all of the sofa and there are feathers and everything all over the house he's been tearing it up you open the door and here comes a puppy wagon and just so happy to see you like look at what I've done isn't this good well that's what Saul's doing to Samuel he's walking up to him he's saying oh you know and he's expecting a blessing and that's why you see Samuel looking at him saying what have you done what have you done what's going on here also immediately blame is that when I saw that the people were scattered verse 11 scattered from me you didn't come within the days appointed it's your fault the Philistines gathered together at McMash I said the Philistines will now come down on me and Gilgall I haven't made supplication to the Lord so he makes it very spiritual and religious therefore I felt compelled offered a burnt offering well in chapter 10 verse 7 Samuel had told Saul when these signs come to you do as the occasion demands and that's exactly what Saul did he responded to the situation with shallowness and faithlessness revealing what was really in his heart all along in a way it would seem that Saul is saying I'm in the real world I'm doing the fighting while you're doing whatever it is that you do but the result in verse 13 is is Samuel saying you've done foolishly I have told you you were to wait for seven days now this is important this wasn't something that Samuel determined this was a commandment of the Lord that's what he says in verse 13 you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God this wasn't a suggestion this was a command you know here in california we take certain things that are laws as suggestions stop signs are suggestions aren't they I suggest that you stop if you see a cop stop you know if you see a car you know that you might hit stop but I see rolling stops all the time as if the stop sign doesn't exist the word stop doesn't mean that it means a suggestion or when you're on the free way and it suggests that you go 65 it's just a suggestion I mean in reality we know that everybody should go 75 to 80 because that's what our traffic flow is like here isn't it I mean we have a tendency of seeing laws as suggestions and that's how we see pretty much everything that's how some people even look at the Bible that's even how some people look at things that are pretty closely communicated to us in scripture that this is a law this is what God says that's what he's doing he's basically treating a commandment as a suggestion you know and as a result of that in his disobedience he loses the kingdom now now a lot of people today would think isn't that harsh of God Saul was under pressure he felt it necessary to be decisive he needed to act and and that's what we have today people who act out of their own instincts people who don't believe that they should trust any outside influences even mature believers or even the word of God they just do what's in their own heart I read recently that people today have become their own Yoda and that's probably true they become their own theologian in residence if you will I was reading something in leadership magazine spring edition of 09 and they pointed out that 71% of adults surveyed stated that they set their own religious beliefs and they ignore what the church has to say 61% of those claiming to be born again make this statement also doesn't matter what the word of God says doesn't matter what we have been what we've had handed down to us if it doesn't feel good to me I'm not going to do it I'm going to do what pleases me it's the same attitude that Saul has but Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments one of the ways that I demonstrate that I actually love the Lord is doing what he says in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy in chapter 30 verse 20 we're commanded love the Lord your God obey his voice cling to him for he is your life and the length of your days love the Lord your God obey his voice cling to him that's demonstrating that you really have a relationship with God so in the case of Saul he was not loving the Lord he was not obeying him he did not cling to him and the result is the kingdom has been taken from him notice verse 14 but now your kingdom shall not continue the Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people because you have not kept with the Lord commanded you now this is something that I find interesting I'm not going to bore you with all kinds of details but in order for you to understand why this is important I want to point something out notice what he says here this is an important point here verse 14 the Lord has sought for himself notice what he says the Lord has sought for himself what I want you to say it what has he sought for himself a man do you see that the Lord has sought for himself what a man now wait a minute when I first read this I'm thinking that David whom I know this is in reference to must have been an adult David must have been an adult because it says here the Lord has sought for himself a man right now when you read in the book of Acts chapter 13 verse 22 in Acts chapter 13 verse 22 this is what we read when he when God had removed Saul he raised up for them David as king to whom also he gave testimony and said I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart who will do all my will and so I've read this so many times and I've thought yeah David of course David is a no wait a minute when you start digging a little deeper it's interesting to know that at this time David was not a man yet David was a little boy the Lord sought for himself someone to take Saul's place years before it actually occurs when you look at Acts 13 21 it tells us that Saul was king for around 40 years when you look at 2 Samuel chapter 5 verses 4 and 5 it says that David became king when he was 30 years of age some of the people that I use or commentators pointed out that David when this was taking place because it's early in the history of Saul David could have been at this time one commentator in particular made this point David at this time could have been as young as two years old he could have been as young as two years old when this took place this is early in the reign of king Saul within the first two years now there's a point I'm going to try and make with this God looks ahead and sees what he's going to do with somebody who has yet to become old enough to even hold the position that he's ordained him to hold which tells me that if you make it practical that right now in this church in the nursery or perhaps in the elementary educational area or in the junior high or maybe in the high school it is very possible that the next pastor of this church is being cared for by somebody in this church right now that there's a family in this church raising a two-year-old a three-year-old a five-year-old right now who's being prepared to be the leader of this church when God removes me because I'm 58 years old I don't know how long I'm going to remain here it could be a high school aged kid it could be somebody working right now in children's ministry teaching kids learning how to communicate you never know you right now who have small kids you have children in the children's ministry you may be raising the next pastor of this church you may be doing that at this moment listen when I was 20 years old and I got saved I started teaching the bible at 23 I was ordained as a pastor at 29 I planted this church at the age of 30 if you'd have told me all of that was going to take place in six or seven years I would not have believed you I would have thought you're kidding me if you'd have told me within 10 years you're going to be pastor in a church after I got saved I'd have said you've got to be kidding you have got to be kidding no you're going to be pastor in a church in Ontario move it over into chino and God is going to bless it you're going to blow your mind at what I'm going to do I'd have said you've got to be kidding never put God in a box never say God can't do that God can do abundantly above all you can ask a thing he's got something he wants to do with you and the real question that I have for you today is what does he want to do in your life yesterday I had 18 to 25 year old boys and men stand up in this church and I said I want to pray for you what because that is a future of this church and that is the future of the church in the United States and I believe that God wants to use that age group that's why I want to meet with the 18 to 35 year olds that's why because I want to pour my life into them because I know that God wants to use them in the future one of these days God's going to remove me he's going to say you know what go out there and and clean your false teeth because I got things to do with these young people that's what he's going to do and I and I and that's cool with me that's fine with me lord that's fine with me please just raise up the one who has a heart after you that's what I want in this church David is a is a kid maybe as young as two but what does God say about him he says he has a heart up to mine that's what qualifies you having a heart up to the Lord a desire to do the things that please God a heart every morning you wake up and you say God here am I use me like I say where they say who shall I send and he says here am I Lord send me have that heart you don't have a clue what God can do with you if you don't open yourself up if you just take the chance with the Lord just say God I want to be used by you I don't know what it is I don't need the notoriety I don't need the fame I don't need people to know who I am I just want to be used by you what is it that you want to do in my life make it count for something Lord I don't want to be one of these people that's just a blip on the map I was here and I'm gone and basically what I have is my the the day I was born 1950 and the the year I died and just a straight line in between with nothing accomplished nothing to put down on my tombstone nothing my headstone that says I was here I don't want to be that I don't want to be that I want people to be able to say this person loved God influenced my life and there were changes made through them that are eternal David had a heart after God a heart after God and he was just a little guy he was somebody who would care for his father's sheep and he'd look up and he'd see the stars when I behold the heavens the work of your hands the handiwork it's like you took them and you flung them out into space I can't help but consider this what is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that now should even consider him what am I Lord just this little inconsequential spec called earth in the midst of so many that you should even consider me that you should even pay attention to my prayers that you'd be aware of my tears that you'd be concerned for my life what is man so that's my heart I want to see God move in people's lives what is it that's keeping him from working in yours what kind of silly little sin have you gotten so in love with that you can't let go of that will keep you from being used by God himself Saul he wanted attention he wanted people to know who he was he wasn't even willing to let his son get any glory when it when it came to glory I want my name on everybody's lips its most pleasant sound in anybody's ears is the sound of his name being spoken by somebody else and that's what Saul wanted even when it came to his own son Jonathan I want my sons names to be greater than mine ever was I want my sons and my daughters to be known for people who love the Lord more than their father and mom ever did that's what I want that's what I've been pouring into them all their lives and I get emotional forgive me but it's true that's my heart my sons will say to me every Christmas daddy what do you want for Christmas and do you know every year I say the same thing what do you want for Christmas dad I say the same thing should know by now and they tell me oh dad not again I say I want you to serve the Lord don't give me anything I can buy myself what I want the best gift my kid can give me serve the Lord serve Jesus that's the gift you can give to me serve the Lord that's my heart I don't need the things listen what I want you can't afford anyway so serve the Lord have a heart after God there's nothing else in this world that'll satisfy you like that nothing nothing will satisfy you like loving Jesus clinging to him and obeying him he is your life he is your life not just one of the things that make up your life he is your life and that's what Christianity is and that's what Saul did not have he was partial in his obedience tried to present himself as if he was completely obedient had a burn offering ready for the peace offering too what are you doing you didn't show up I was afraid people are deserting me what you've done is wrong God's going to take the kingdom from you because you didn't obey him well in verse 15 Samuel arose and went up from Gilgall to Giba of Benjamin Saul numbered the people present with him about 600 men Saul Jonathan his son and the people present with them remained in Giba of Benjamin but the Philistines encamped in mick mash then raiders which are their special forces came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies and they went in three different directions one company turned onto the road to Oprah they're in Chicago oops to the land of shawl another company turned to the road to Beth Oran and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the valley of Zewim toward the wilderness now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel for the Philistines said let lest the Hebrews make swords or spears but all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plow share his mattocks his axe and his sickle and the charge for sharpening was of him for the plow shares the mattocks the forks and the axes and to set the points of the goats so it came on the day of battle that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan but they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son and the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of mick mash and what they're doing they're assembling their soldiers they're getting ready for an onslaught they have their their people all in position to attack this Jewish military is no way capable of fighting them they have no weapons there's a highly skilled you know contingent of military fighting men facing an army of men with farming tools and as they're looking at Saul's ragtag army they don't expect any trouble from them but they don't know about Jonathan they don't know about a man named Jonathan and the courage that Jonathan has a courage that comes through faith they don't know about Jonathan but they're going to find out about him in chapter 14 which we'll see next time we're together our father we ask that you might work within us a heart like David's and a heart like Jonathan men who had a heart after you men who had courage knowing that you were in control we see a a name David we know who it is we don't know his exact age at this time we know he became king at the age of 30 we know that he ruled Israel for 40 years we know that Saul ruled for close to 40 years so David very well may have been just a small child when you already saw what you were going to do in him well lord you've already seen what you want to do in us and you have plans that you want to work out in the lives of those children in the nursery all the way through the high school and i pray that we wouldn't get in the way of your plans for them i pray that we might as a church grab hold of the idea that we're here to serve you may we love you may we obey you and may we cling to you lord for you are our life our eyes our eyes are closed our our heads are bowed and perhaps there are some in this room right now we need to get right with the lord i want to pray for you right where you're at the holy spirit is speaking to you that you need to get right with the lord i want to pray for you would you raise your hand right now right where you're at let me pray for your father you see these hands and and you know what's going on in these lives you know their hearts and i'm asking you now in Jesus name that you would reach down and you would touch them and as they open their heart to you right now father that you would flood them with your grace and your mercy and your love and your power that they might live for you and serve you if there are areas lord of weakness in their life right now sin and as they're yielding this to you i pray that you would wash them cleanse them empower them that they might overcome through you lord for we can do all things through you who strengthen us so jesus i ask that you have your way and moving them now lord in your name bless you lord thank you you can put your hands down and lord jesus we ask you keep working in all of us that we might be people after your heart in your name we pray amen let's all stand tonight as we gather together i do hope and pray that you're able to be with us throughout this week there are events going on i'll see some of you 18 to 35 so we will be carding at the door 18 to 35 tomorrow wednesday we do our ezekiel study thursday national day of prayer please be with us if you can father i ask that you work in and through us we lift up this church to you the ministry you've given to us this family lord we lift up the children right now and the need that we do have we pray for that lord for ministers in that in that very important very crucial area and i ask lord that you would just have your way as we leave we go into a field that is ripe for harvest a mission field you've sent us to be faithful in may we serve you with all that's within us lord in jesus name we pray amen god bless you