WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.720 Well, we are finishing the book of 1 Samuel today. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:13.199 Last week we saw how the shepherd boy David was gaining success and popularity in Israel, specifically through military victories, and he's depending on God throughout that. 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:18.640 Today we're gonna see how our hope is not in our own consistency. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.800 Our hope is in God's faithfulness to us. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:36.479 Now, and in the book and in the movie The Lord of the Rings, the story is about the boy Frodo, this little guy that to save the world, he has to take a ring to the top of a mountain and destroy the ring. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:42.399 But the closer he gets, the heavier the mission becomes, the heavier the ring comes on him. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.759 It's more than he can bear himself. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:52.560 So at the end of that movie, he's crawling up Mount Doom and he has nothing left. 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:56.240 He has no strength, he has no ability, he has no consistency. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.280 And then his friend Sam shows up. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:01.679 Outside help shows up. 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:04.159 Let's watch about a minute and a half of this clip. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:03:02.479 See, our faith is experienced as something we have, something we carry, but the greater truth is that God is carrying you while you're doing that very thing. 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:08.400 And today we're gonna see that in David, what we see with David is that our hope is not in our consistency. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:11.680 Our hope is in God's faithfulness to us. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.000 As Sam carries Frodo, God carries us. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.479 Now, back in 1 Samuel, we're nearing the end of David's wilderness years. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.719 He's had about seven to ten years of running from King Saul. 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:28.400 Saul pursuing him, trying to kill him, and David running. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:29.919 Seven to ten years of this. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:35.039 And at times David shines, and at times David really does stumble. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:40.960 But the story, again, is not about David's consistency, that's about God's faithfulness. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.240 After Samuel the prophet dies, David's in the wilderness. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:48.000 He sends to get provisions from a wealthy guy named Nabal. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:49.280 Nabal says no. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:53.439 Nabal responds in hatred, and David gets angry about this. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.479 I mean, how dare you not give provision to me and my guys? 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:00.159 So David is going to seek out revenge on this wealthy guy. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:03.840 But Nabal's wife Abigail gets to David first. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:09.280 And she reminds David of God's purposes for David. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:17.759 She reminds David, urges him, don't stain the future of your kingship out of anger and out of this murder. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:19.600 Don't murder my husband. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:26.879 David relents, and that's where we get our scripture reading for today, 1 Samuel 25, jump in at verse 32. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:33.279 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:41.279 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you who have kept me this day from blood guilt and from working salvation with my own hand. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:46.639 For surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you. 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:53.040 Unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left in a ball so much as one male. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:58.560 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, Go in peace to your house. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:02.319 See, I have obeyed your voice and have granted your petition. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:07.759 Point number one is this God's grace to us is often experienced through other people. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:11.839 God's grace to us is often experienced through other people. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:17.519 David is ready to destroy everything in his life to get revenge. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.160 This isn't measured justice. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:23.040 This is abreactive anger. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:25.759 But Abigail steps in. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:29.759 The Lord used Abigail in David's life. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:33.279 God's grace to us is often through other people. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:36.000 Last week my Uncle Jack was in town. 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:37.680 He was here at church with us. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:39.519 Here's a picture of my Uncle Jack and I. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:42.720 This is up in Seattle where he lives a few months ago. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:46.160 Great picture, horrible hat, great picture. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:48.319 He wears the hat just to annoy me. 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:51.839 I mean, look, he's even wearing the colors, and he does that just to annoy me. 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:55.360 He's just really poking at me every time he's gonna have that Georgia Tech hat on. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:56.079 Horrible hat. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:59.439 Jack's about 82 years old, he's 82 years old, decent health. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:06.639 Might have been his last trip through the South to see his brother in Mississippi, to see us here in Georgia. 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:10.240 Now, when I was 13 years old, my parents divorced. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:13.680 And when my parents divorced, my Uncle Jack stepped in. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:16.240 He stepped in as a fatherly figure. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:19.199 He came to my parents' weekend at college. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.720 He spoke at my rehearsal dinner at our wedding. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:31.839 When Christy and I were young and we were married with no kids in Atlanta, he would come through Atlanta about once a month on business and he would say, Hey, I'm gonna be here on Saturday night. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.120 You make the reservation. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:36.000 Any restaurant you want in Atlanta, I'll pay for it. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:37.759 And we did that for years. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:39.120 No kids in Atlanta. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:43.279 Once a month, we got eating the best restaurants in all of Atlanta, all on Uncle Jack. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:44.399 It was amazing. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:46.639 Uncle Jack stepped in. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:51.279 Jack gave me someone to look up to, to ask questions to, to have my back. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:55.120 Jack was an Abigail in my life. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:58.319 God's grace is often experienced through other people. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:09.120 Some of the greatest evidences of God's care for you will be other people showing up at certain times and seasons of your life. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:12.399 So there's a couple questions I would like to ask. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:17.519 Are we listening when God sends an abigail into our lives? 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:23.040 And are we grateful to God for the abigails that have cared for us? 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:35.120 Even to take time this week, slow down, reflect back on the different seasons of your life, God's grace to you through these abigails that have been sent to you. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:39.759 In chapter 26, Saul again pursues David in the wilderness. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.360 David sneaks into Saul's camp while Saul's asleep. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:49.759 Saul's vulnerable, but David again refuses to kill this guy who's trying to kill him. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:52.959 David won't kill the Lord's anointed. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:08:00.079 Instead, he takes Saul's spear and a jug of water to prove his restraint, trying to get mercy from Saul. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:04.000 1 Samuel 26, verse 12, jump to 23 and 24. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:08.800 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:16.319 No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.319 Now here's David speaking, verse 23. 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:22.000 The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:27.519 For the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:36.799 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me out of all this tribulation. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:40.000 So David spares Saul's life again. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:42.000 Saw it last week, again this week. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:44.399 David has a heart of mercy. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:48.399 And that's coming out of the mercy shown to him from God. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.039 And a contrast is showing up. 00:08:51.279 --> 00:09:07.200 The lack of character in Saul out of jealousy to try to kill David, and then contrasted with David, a merciful heart, that even in moments when he could take care of this problem, he won't murder Saul. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.399 But the story goes on and David begins to doubt. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:12.799 David is in fact not perfect. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:14.559 1 Samuel 27, 1. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:19.919 Then David said in his heart, Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:22.799 So the despair, the doubt is creeping in. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:28.399 He says, There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:34.159 Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.480 So David is in despair. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:38.480 Saul will never stop. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:40.000 This will never change. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:40.879 You ever said that? 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:41.919 You're in a season. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:43.759 This will never change. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:45.840 This will never get any better. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:47.039 I have no hope. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:48.879 So David breaks. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:51.919 His fear takes over. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:57.039 He ends up going to the very place of his enemies, the Philistines. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:03.919 If you had told him years before that he would take refuge with the Philistines, remember that was Goliath's people. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:09.200 David fought against them, and now David is taking refuge with his enemies. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:14.559 Point number two is this out of fear, we can seek refuge in the wrong places. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:18.159 Out of fear, we can seek refuge in the wrong places. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:20.559 Do you notice that phrase in verse 1? 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:25.840 Then David said in his heart, that phrase should slow us down. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.720 Instead of running to the Lord, David listens to his fear. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:33.600 And he ends up going to his enemy. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:38.799 The very place he should not be seeking safety and refuge, he goes to. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:47.679 And the point is that none of us are above deceiving ourselves or finding refuge in destructive places. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:53.919 David teaches us that when we're afraid, we can do some crazy things with all of us. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:57.919 We need godly people around us. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:04.480 Just a few years before this, this season where he runs to the Philistines. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:07.840 A few years earlier, he wrote this, Psalm 56, 3 and 4. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:10.000 Same guy, same guy wrote this. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:17.840 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust, I shall not be afraid. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.519 What can flesh do to me? 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:25.039 So the guy who wrote that fails to trust. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:27.519 Because fear blinds us. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:30.320 And in our sin we don't want to trust. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:31.679 We want to take control. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:33.759 I'll find my own refuge. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:35.360 I'll find my own relief. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:37.200 But good news. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:37.919 Good news. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:42.799 The good news is that our fear and our sin does not change God's faithfulness to us. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:49.440 Our hope is not in our own consistency, even in our lack of consistency, God is still at work. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.240 Now, how should we process our fear? 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:56.000 How should we think about our fear when it does begin to overwhelm us? 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:06.559 Well, Peter Scazaro's book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, great book of the intersection of emotional health and gospel, it helps us really process fear. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:09.840 Here's the process to summarize the teaching. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:11.279 Here's the process to go through. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:12.720 Number one, become aware. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:14.320 What am I feeling right now? 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:16.080 Okay, I'm feeling afraid. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:17.679 What am I feeling? 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:19.279 What is my fear? 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:20.879 See if we can name it. 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.279 What is my what am I afraid of? 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:25.679 And then go beneath the surface. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.480 What is this fear really about? 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:32.639 What am I afraid might happen? 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:35.679 Third, notice what's driving us. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:37.840 What am I trying to control? 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.080 Or what am I avoiding? 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:41.679 Fourth, bring it to God. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:44.879 Can I sit with God in this feeling? 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:52.639 So rather moving into ab reaction and more sin, can I sit with this for a second with God? 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:56.159 Can I allow myself to be honest before Him? 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:58.159 Fifth, release the outcomes. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:12:59.840 What do I need to let go of? 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:01.360 What do I need to surrender? 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:02.799 Can I surrender this to God? 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:04.799 And then sixth, receive and respond. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:07.840 What is God inviting me to do next? 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:11.519 What is the next step of love and trust? 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:21.600 The goal is to slow down, to let the fear take us to a deeper issue rather than letting the fear just send us into abreaction and destructive path. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:23.360 David just abreacted. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.320 I'll run the Philistines, I'll take refuge there. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:29.759 But we have to move through our fear to surrender to God. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.000 Chapter 28, Saul's desperate. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:34.879 He hears a message of judgment from God. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:39.279 Saul hears that through that disobedience, the kingdom's going to be given to David. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:42.799 Also he hears that he and his sons are going to die in a battle. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:44.240 Chapter 29. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:48.559 David almost goes to battle with the Philistines against his own people. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:50.399 That's how far this has gone. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:53.519 But before the battle, the Philistines start to get concerned. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:54.639 This is still David. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:56.639 Like this is the guy who took Goliath out. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:13:58.080 He's not one of us. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:13:59.519 And so they get concerned. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:00.720 Maybe he's going to turn on us. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:04.799 So they say send David and the men away back to the town they were living in. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:08.879 But when they get back to the town they were living in, that town has been destroyed. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:12.320 And then David's own people turn on him. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:13.679 They've had enough. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.159 1 Samuel 30, verse 6. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:26.639 And David was greatly distressed, for the people, his own people, spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:31.440 But David strengthened himself in the Lord is God. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:38.480 And David said to Abiathar, the priest and the son of Ahamelech, bring me the ephod. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:41.919 So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:46.879 And David inquired of the Lord, Shall I pursue after this band? 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:48.399 Shall I overtake them? 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:54.480 He answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:15:01.360 Point number three is this our strength is found in the Lord's faithfulness, not our consistency. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:03.360 That's what I've been saying. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:07.360 That's the point, that's the story that's being played out here. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:11.759 We have faith in God's faithfulness, not faith in our own faith. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.480 Our faith is actually in God's faithfulness to us. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.399 For David, everything's lost. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:18.159 Even his own people are turning on him. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:22.720 But we read the most hopeful line of the narrative. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:24.399 Verse 6. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:29.600 But David strengthened himself, and the Lord is God. 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:33.600 See, we're all Frodo on the mountain. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:35.919 And we can't make it any further. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:39.519 If you felt like that, you probably feel like that in some area of your life, if not all of life. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:40.559 It is mayhem. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.639 Some of you feel like you can't make it to another awards banquet. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:48.799 I can't make it up the mountain any further, right? 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:52.559 But there's some area of life, some area of your heart. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:55.039 It's like, I just can't make it any further. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:57.919 You're Frodo, you need sand to show up. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:02.720 You're you're humanity, and you need God's grace to show up. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:05.840 Because it's not about our perfect consistency. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:07.840 It's about God's faithfulness. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:12.720 Listen to what David wrote in this Psalm, Psalm 18, 1 through 6. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:16.720 I love you, O Lord, my strength. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:27.440 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:32.240 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:41.919 The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me, the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:44.639 In my distress, I called upon the Lord. 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:46.799 To my God, I cried for help. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:52.240 From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:56.399 See, David returns to God's faithfulness. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:00.080 Fear and failure are never the end of our stories. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.039 David has fear and failure, so do we. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:04.880 But there's a deeper story. 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:13.759 God is a faithful artist weaving a story even through all of David's mess, even through all of our mess. 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.160 There's a thread that holds it all together. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:20.720 There's a thread that holds our lives all together, even in the mess. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:26.480 A few months ago, a tapestry, a piece of art sold for$750,000. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:31.759 This tapestry right here, 1903, Frida Hansen, she made this tapestry. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:35.680 $750,000, a billionaire buys this. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:38.480 It's the most a tapestry's ever been sold for. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:39.920 On the front of it, it's lovely. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.920 I don't know if you're into tapestries or not. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:43.519 You could buy this, maybe it's appreciated. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:46.319 Maybe you can give a million dollars and have this tapestry hanging in your house. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:47.200 It'd be lovely. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:51.759 Now, on the front of it, it looks nice, but on the back of a tapestry, it's an absolute mess. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:57.279 Here's actually a front and back of a different tapestry, just to get the idea of a front and a back of a tapestry. 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:02.400 When you look at the back of a tapestry, it looks like chaos. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:07.839 See, often all we see is the back. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:08.319 Right? 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:12.400 That's what David saw right before he runs to the Philistines. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:13.920 He just sees a mess. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:17.200 He can't see the thread that God is weaving. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:19.519 He doesn't see a beautiful story. 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:21.440 He sees no end here. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.880 But the artist is creating something. 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:27.359 You just can't see it right now. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:32.559 And what holds it together is one single continuous thread. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:34.799 That's how tapestry works. 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:38.960 And what holds our lives together is one single continuous thread. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:44.480 And that thread is not your strength, and it is not your consistency. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:49.920 That thread is God's faithfulness to us, known to you in Jesus. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:53.119 Listen to 2 Corinthians 1.20. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:56.720 For all the promises of God find their yes in him. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:58.720 Speaking of Jesus. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:02.160 All the promises of God find their yes in Jesus. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:07.200 That is why it is through him that we utter our amen to God for his glory. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.279 1 Timothy 2.13. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:12.640 If we are faithless, he remains faithful. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:22.319 The invitation is to trust all the more, not in our own consistency, strength, ability, or our faith, but to trust in God's faithfulness to us. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:24.720 When David falters, Jesus does not. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.119 When we falter, Jesus does not. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:28.720 Let's pray together. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:32.960 Heavenly Father, we're so thankful that you know us and love us. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:35.519 That you know we're like David at times. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:43.680 We really shine in front of difficulties and battles, and at times we're a mess and we run to some pretty destructive places. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.720 Lord, we're so thankful that your faithfulness to us continues. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:51.279 That you do not love us. 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:58.319 You are not with us because of our own righteousness resume, but because of the righteousness of Jesus. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:02.319 We're not forgiven because of our merit, we're forgiven because of Jesus. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:07.759 Help us to trust all the more and all the yeses we have in Jesus. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:14.079 Forgive us for all the ways we try to take salvation in our own hands, justification, even our own worth. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:21.039 And help us to trust in you to slow down, to say we take our refuge, we take our strength in you alone. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:22.400 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:23.119 Amen.