David the Victor, Part 1

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight, a chance to examine your Word once again. Lord, we are so grateful that you've given us the Word of the Lord, that we might study it together and understand the greatness that's there. Tonight, speak to us once again through your Word, that your Spirit might illumine our hearts and minds to the things that will enable us to serve and to honor you with all of our hearts. Lord, take away distractions, take away things that have happened even this day, that we might be focused fully upon thee, that we might live for the glory and honor of Christ our Lord.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Turn with me, and you would, if you would, in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 8, 2 Samuel chapter 8.

We're going to read the 18 verses that are there, and then we're going to see some things that will really truly open your to what God has for you as we study God's Word together this evening. It begins this way. Now after this, it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. And David took control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines. And he defeated Moab and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground. And he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive.

And the Moabites became servants of David, bringing tribute. Then David defeated Hadadzer, the son of Rahab, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his rule at the river. And David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots. And when the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadzer, king of Zobah, David killed 22,000 Arameans. Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute.

And the Lord helped David wherever he went. And David took the shields of gold, which were carried by the servants of Hadadzer, and brought them to Jerusalem. And from Betar and from Barothi, cities of Hadadzer, king David took a very large amount of Hadadzer. It's hard, easy for you to say. Hadadzer, Toi sent Joram, his son, to king David to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadzer and defeated him. For Hadadzer had been at war with Toi, and Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze.

King David also dedicated these to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued, from Aram and Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines, and Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadzer, son of Rahab, king of Zobah. So David made a name for himself when he returned from killing 18,000 Arameans in the Valley of Saul. And he put garrisons in Edom, in all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.

So David reigned over all Israel, and David administered justice and righteousness for all his people. And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was over the army. And Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was recorder. And Zadok, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were priests. And Sarai was secretary. And Banei, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Karathites and the Pelathites. And David's sons were chief ministers. And now you're saying, how and why did I come to hear that chapter? What difference does it make who David defeated?

How he subdued them? How he won the victory? Does it really make that big a difference? I mean, how does this help me spiritually? How does this help my life today? How does this change my life today? And how did what I read just help me become a better Christian? Well, that's why you're here. Because the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3, that all scripture is God-breathed.

And all the scripture that's God-breathed is profitable. Even the words you can't pronounce, they're profitable. Not only are they profitable, but they are given for your instruction, for your training in righteousness, for your establishment. That you as a man or woman of God will be thoroughly furnished, thoroughly equipped, thoroughly put together, so you can accomplish all the work that God wants you to accomplish. Having said that, without 2 Samuel chapter 8 being in your heart and mind, and having the opportunity to study it, you then become not as strong unless you study the passage.

Not as put together as you need to be put together, unless you understand 2 Samuel chapter 8 and David the victor. Because that's exactly what he was. He was a victorious warrior. Which adds this to us, how do we now become victorious warriors? If David is the victor, how do we become the victor? That's what 2 Samuel 8 is going to tell us. And so we ask the question, having read this, what difference does it really make? Well, historically it makes a big difference because David would expand the borders of Israel.

He would take them all the way to the great river Euphrates, which God had said was the border of Israel, all the way to the great river of Egypt. And what David would do is that he would fulfill the law of God. He would do what God had originally planned through his testimony to Abraham in the book of Genesis chapter 15, as well as the book of Deuteronomy, as well as the book of 1 Kings, as God gives us the borders of the land of Israel. David would set in motion the whole program of God. God would use David to accomplish that purpose because God wanted Israel to have the land that he promised them.

That becomes very significant for you and I spiritually as we understand David as the victor. Because we know that David is a type of Christ. There will be a greater son that will come from David's loins, who not only will rule over that land, but ultimately will rule over the entire world. So David becomes the type of Christ as he begins to defeat all of his enemies and to spread out the borders of the land as God had prescribed them earlier in the book of Genesis and the book of Deuteronomy. On top of that, the Bible says in the book of Exodus that the Lord God is a man of war.

David was a man of war. It tells us in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that God will subdue all enemies in the defeat of his son. All enemies will be subdued. What David did was begin to subdue all the enemies from the east to the west, from the north to the south. He did everything God wanted him to do. This becomes pivotal for you and me to understand what it is God wants for you and me to do as we seek to follow his word. This chapter is a chapter that Proverbs 13 speaks of when it says this, the soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat.

If you're a sluggard when it comes to Bible study, you might want to learn to walk with God and know God, but you know what? You're going to be left wanting. But if you're diligent in your study, you're going to become spiritually fat. And we wanted you all to be spiritually fat. We want you to expound spiritually. We want you to go beyond the borders of your spiritual clothing and just go way beyond there. But it only is for the diligent. It's for those who study the scripture and it's true in life as a sluggard wants but doesn't attain unless he changes his ways and becomes diligent in his efforts.

Bible study is for the diligent. It's for those who want to know more, who want to grow deep so they can become fat in their understanding of God. We want you to become fat in your understanding of God. So we deal with 2 Samuel chapter 8, even though there are names that are hard to pronounce, even though David lines up the Moabites in 3 different lines and slaughters 2 lines and leaves one line alive, a line of people. Because David was a man of war and God had a plan. Here was the plan. You've got to defeat the enemy.

You've got to subdue the enemy. You have got to make sure that you handle the enemy of your life. The same is true for you spiritually. Because you might be here tonight and unable to subdue the enemy of your soul, the enemy of your life. How do you subdue those enemies? How do you become the victor in your life? When God promises you victory, how is it you become that victorious warrior? That's what 2 Samuel 8 is about. And that's what we need to understand. Because here in this Now after this. Stop right there.

After what? After 2 Samuel chapter 7. Well what took place in 2 Samuel chapter 7? David was at rest from his enemies. Chapter 7 verse number 1. He became at rest from all of his enemies. He had spent years on the run, years fighting. And David was a warrior. He fought the lion and the bear to protect the sheep. He went and fought Goliath. He gained fame. He fought for Saul and defeated the Philistines. When he was a fugitive, he was a warrior. He even defeated the armies of Israel when he was running from Saul.

He was so much a warrior, it was ingrained in his blood. That's what he did. He was a master marksman. He was able to fight like no other man could fight. He would lead his army into battle. So at this time in his life, he was at rest from his enemies in 2 Samuel chapter 7. And we saw that during his leisure time, what did he do? He focused in on Deuteronomy chapter 12. That for God there'd be a place for his presence to dwell. And all of his thoughts were upward. His thoughts weren't about himself, weren't about anything else, but they were all upward.

What is it I can do for my God? That's what he wanted to do. And so he went to Nathan and said, Nathan, I want to build a place for God. I have a place where I dwell. I want a place for God to dwell. And Nathan said, go for it. But God came to Nathan and said, you know what? This is not for David to do for someone else. And Nathan had to go back and tell David the answer is no. But David began to pray. As he began to pray, he began to thank God for what God revealed to him through the prophet David, that the son from his loins would be God in the flesh and that he would reign forever and ever from the throne of David in Jerusalem.

And he prayed. After this, after what? After sweet communion with his God, through spending time meditating upon the word of God, having his thoughts above with God, praying to God, having communed with Christ, he was now commissioned to combat. He was now led to go to war and he was ready to go to war. You know, most of us aren't ready to go to war because we haven't communed with the Christ. If you don't spend time focused on God, focused above on God, you can't go to war and win. You'll lose. You'll lose big time.

And so we, we learned a very important spiritual lesson between second Samuel chapter one, or excuse me, second Samuel seven verse number one and second Samuel eight verse number one.

And that's this. Intimacy leads to dependency, which leads to victory. Twice it says, once in verse six, once in verse number 14 of second Samuel eight, that the Lord was with David wherever he went.

His whole life was built on dependency, but it stemmed from intimacy, that intimate communion he would have with his God, where he focused above and not below, where he focused on the things of God, led him to depend upon his God, which allowed him to be victorious for his God. If you don't learn any lesson, learn that one. Intimacy leads to dependency, which leads to victory. Why did we lose the battles we face? Because we're not dependent upon the Lord. Why are we not dependent upon the Lord? Because we don't spend time in sweet communion with the Christ, spend time in his word on our knees, beseeching him, seeking him.

Through all of second Samuel seven, David was submissive as a servant, as a slave to his God. Even though he received no answer, he was willing to do what God said because he was a servant of God. He understood the plan of God. He only understood that because the prophet of God spoke to him, but God spoke through the prophet Nathan that David would understand that his plans were bigger than what he thought they were. They were as big as God wanted them to be. And so he began to dwell with his God, dependent upon his God.

Now he's ready for war. Now he's ready for battle. And when he goes to war, he doesn't lose. He doesn't lose. He can't lose because God was with him. Wouldn't it be good to go to war and never lose? Wouldn't it be good to face your enemy and never lose? Wouldn't it be good to face the battles inwardly that you face on a daily basis and gain victory? It stems from dependency, which stems from intimacy. And that's where the chapter begins. After this, after all that he had learned, after all that he had been told, after crying out to his God and praying to him, now having communed with Christ, he was commissioned for combat.

Now he's ready to go to war. And that's exactly what David does. He goes to war to fight for his God. He was a commissioned warrior. So we see point number one, him defeating the nations.

Point number two, we see him dedicating the collections. And point number three, we see him directing his administration.

But it begins with defeating the nations, all the nations that surrounded Jerusalem. To the west, it was the Philistines. To the east, it was Moab. To the north, it was Zobah, Syria, and Hamath. To the south, it was Edom. But notice how it all began.

This becomes very important for you and me. Now, after this, it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. And David took control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines. Maybe your text says the Methagama. That's the chief city, the Methagama. It's the bridle of the mother city. It's the dominant city. It's the city that moves all the other cities. It was, as the New American Standard says, the chief city. Because in order for David to defeat the other cities, he had to defeat the chief city first.

It would do him no good to do all the surrounding cities. If you read 1 Chronicles chapter 18, it talks about that city being Gath and five other villages that surrounded it. That was the garrison. That was the cities he had to defeat. Why? Because you can't defeat the enemy unless you defeat that which is dominant among the enemy. The same is true in your spiritual life. You have many enemies that you face, many sins that you must conquer. But you got to know what the dominant sin is, what the chief sin is.

Once you know the chief dominant sin, the other ones fall like a domino effect. But you got to deal with the chief sin. You got to go after the biggest sin. The Hebrew said it this way, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us. What is the sin that besets you? Well, according to the book of Hebrews, the 12th chapter, the sin for them was the sin of unbelief. They're not willing to believe who Jesus Christ is and what Jesus Christ would do for them. And whether you know this or not, every chief sin in your life and mine is a sin of unbelief.

That's why we do all the sins that we do. We don't believe that what God says is true. We believe what society tells us, what someone else tells us, and that's the way we go. Even though it might oppose God, we believe what somebody else tells us, not what God says, because we don't think that what God says is going to happen.

And so really we live in the realm of unbelief. Unbelief in terms of what God's word says. And so that sin that so easily besets us, whatever that dominant sin might be for you, that's got to be conquered. It's got to be overthrown. It's got to be subdued. If not, the other sins will continue to raise their ugly head in your life, and you'll continue to face failure instead of victory. And none of us wants to face defeat. We want to win. That's why we're Christians, because Jesus himself is the ultimate winner, the ultimate victor.

And so we want to win. Well, to win, you have to know what Jesus says about winning, becoming that victor.

David was a victorious warrior. His intimacy led to dependency, which led to victory. Same way it is for you and me. The closer we walk with God in intimacy, the sweeter the communion with Christ. Let me tell you something.

The more dependent we are upon him, and the more dependent we are upon him, then the easier it is for us to go to war and to win victory over our sins. Whatever they may be, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life, whatever that sin might be, no matter how great it might be, in order for us to win victory over it, we must learn to walk in intimacy, that we might learn to depend upon our God, that we might win the victory. That's the way it was with David in the physical realm. That's the way it is with us in the spiritual realm.

Now note this. David won't always win the victory over dominant sins in his life. He won't always do that. Second Samuel chapter 11, because he loses the battle with the lust of the eyes, because he loses the battle with the pride of life, because he loses the battle with the lust of the flesh, he loses big time.

You need to be able to conquer the dominant sin of your soul, that you might be able to defeat all the other sins. And David was the victor in this chapter. He was a victor in a physical sense. We are called to battle. We are called to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. We are called to warfare, as we understand that we are to put on the whole armor of God, that we might be able to withstand the wiles of the devil. We are called to battle, but that call to battle can only lead to victory, if we walk in intimacy with our God.

You just don't wake up one day and say, I'm going to war and win, without spending time in God's word, on your knees, trusting him for everything. You got to defeat the dominant sins. Let me give you an example.

Jesus said in Matthew 5, if your right eye offends you, in the whole context of adultery, remember that? If you look upon a woman, you've already lost that, they're already in your heart. He says, if your right eye offends you, pluck it out. If your right hand offends you, cut it off. He didn't say, if your right eye offends you, pluck your eyebrows. He didn't say, if your right hand offends you, do your nails. He says, cut it off. Why? Because that which offends you is the dominant sin. You got to get rid of it.

You got to take the drastic measure, whatever it may be. Because if you don't do that, you just can't tinker with it. You got to subdue it. You got to get rid of it. You don't do that, you'll lose. You'll lose. You see, we want to play around with sin. We want to play around with those things that somehow we like to dabble in. You can't afford to do that. You've got to deal with it upfront. You got to deal with it quickly. You got to deal with it decisively. If you let it linger, it will haunt you to the day you die.

That's why Jesus says, take the drastic measure. If it offends you, get rid of it. Do whatever you have to do to make sure you rid that one dominant sin of your life. Get it out of there. Get rid of it. If not, it will come back and destroy you. Saul didn't destroy Agag, did he? The king of the Amalekites didn't do it. It came back to haunt him because he didn't defeat him. He should have killed him. God said, kill him. Wipe him out. Saul did not obey. He did not follow the word of the Lord because he was the king and he didn't want somebody killing him and his family.

So he spared the king. Listen, you can't spare the sin. You must get rid of the sin. And too many people in the church today love to dabble in sinful things. They love to dabble in them because they might not be so nasty on the outside, but they do, they wreak havoc on your soul on the inside. And we have to be aware of what God has for us. Why do we have to do this? Let me draw this analogy for you.

God had promised Israel the land of Canaan. He gave them the borders of the land of Canaan. He told them this is the promised land. When they spied it out back in the book of Numbers, they went in, they saw the giants. They said, oh, they're too big. We can't defeat them. Joshua and Caleb said, no, yes, we can. We can defeat him. And the other 10 said, no, we can't do it. And the multitude followed the 10 and God was angry because God had given them that land and they weren't going to go in and take it.

So God caused them to wander for 40 years. And then under the leadership of Joshua, they would embark on the promised land. But the enemy was still there. The Canaanites, the Jebusites, the Perizzites, they were all still there, but the land was theirs. They had the right to the land because God said so. God gave the title deed to Israel. This is your land. I've marked it out for you. This is your land. Go get it. But in order for them to experience the blessings of the land, the joy in the land, to be at peace in the land, what did they have to do?

They had to defeat the enemy of the land. They had to defeat it. If they didn't defeat it, they wouldn't have the joy. They wouldn't have the peace. God says to you as a believer, I have all kinds of joy for you.

At my right hand are pleasures forevermore. That's just not in eternity. That's today as well. I have given you an inheritance. I want you to experience my peace. But there's one problem. When you got saved, your lustful passions still remain in the land. You got to defeat them. You got to subdue them. You must. Because they're there until you die. They're there until you go to heaven. That's why Paul said, the things I want to do, I don't do. And the things that I'm not supposed to be doing, I'm doing.

Why? Because all wretched man that I am. Oh, there's so much warfare in my soul. And there is. That's why Peter said that we are aliens and strangers in a foreign land. But there are fleshly lusts, 1 Peter 2.11, which wage war against your soul. Is that not true? They wage war against your soul. And God says, I want you to experience my joy.

I want you to experience my peace. I want you to experience all that I have for you, all the beautiful inheritance I want to give to you. And one day you'll do it in a perfect body. But until then, you got to go to war. Because every single day, you're at battle against your flesh. Every single day. And if you don't defeat the Bethgema, the chief city, the bridal of the mother city, if you don't defeat that sin, you can't defeat all the other sins that are surrounding it. You got to go for it full bore.

You got to attack it with a vengeance. But you can only get the victory if you are dependent upon the Lord. Because as the Lord was with David, so the Lord wants to be with you, that you might defeat the enemy. Boy, this is crucial, folks. You have to understand this. Because the symbolism here, the spiritual lessons here are fabulous. And we need to understand what David did. Because there's going to come a day where David doesn't do these things. He doesn't live in dependency. That during his leisure time, he's not focused above.

He's focused below. And it costs him greatly. Same is true for us. The Christian life is not a sprint. It is a marathon that takes you to the day you die. And it's about discipline. It's about steadfastness. It's about commitment. It's about obedience to what God says, that we might be the victorious warriors that God wants us to be.

We can't be ignorant of Satan's devices, because he wants to destroy your joy. He wants to rid you of all happiness. He wants your life to wreak havoc, not experience peace. And maybe here tonight you have no joy whatsoever, none. Because what is that that cripples joy? God promises joy, right? He says, I've come to give you life, not just life, but abundant life, a joyous life. These things are written in 1 John 1 that your joy may be made full, may be made full. Over in John chapter 15, verse 11, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.

And sometimes we walk around, we have no joy, let alone fullness of joy. There's no peace. Why? Because the greatest crippler of joy is sin. That's why David said, restore to me the joy of my salvation. You see, he thought that having an affair with Bathsheba would give him joy. He thought that that 20 minutes of pleasure would bring him great joy. It did not. For 20 minutes it did though. It's called the passing pleasures of sin, as the book of Hebrew says, Hebrews chapter 11. There's the passing pleasure of sin, but sin is pleasurable.

And yet David lost joy. So he didn't say to God, restore to me your salvation, because he's already saved. He says, restore to me the joy of my salvation, that I might speak and sing for joy to those around about me. Why? Because he had no joy. Why? Because he had sinned against God. He had not repented of his sin. He had not confessed to sin. He lived in his sin. He tried to hide his sin. And if you're here tonight and you have no joy, you ask yourself, what sin are you trying to hide? What sin are you engaged in?

What sin are you trying to keep from somebody else? What secret sin do you engage in that's robbing you and crippling your joy? Because that's what sin does. And David comes back and says, restore to me the joy of my salvation. Psalm 32 talks about having a conscience free from guilt because he had confessed his sin to God. See, that's what confession does. And God wants you to experience the beautiful joy of victory. So let me ask you a question.

Do you have victory in your life over the methagama, the chief sin, the dominant sin? Or do you find yourself succumbing to temptation on a regular basis? Do you find yourself falling by the wayside? Do you find yourself engaged in those things you wouldn't want anybody to know you're engaged in? Because they have controlled your life. They've put a stranglehold on your soul. Or are you the kind of person who walks with Christ, talks with Christ, and daily you're getting more and more victorious over all those things that seem to be major in your life?

That's the direction you want to go, right? That's the way you want to be. I love reading about the life of David because the man just never loses. You got to love a guy who doesn't lose. And yet in the inner man, David would lose many battles, right? He would lose many battles because the battles on the inside are the battles that matter, right? That count. To be able to have control over your emotions during times of conflict, right? You have conflict with your wife, your spouse, your husband. Are you able to master those emotions?

Do you subdue them under the authority of God's word? Or do you just fly off the handle and go full bore into your husband or into your wife, screaming, yelling, cursing, throwing? What do you do? How do you subdue those temptations that lead you further from Christ, not closer to Christ? How do you do that? How do you gain victory over those emotions? How do you gain victory over those passions, those lustful passions, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh? How do you gain victory over that?

How about your pride, the arrogance that you protrude? How is it you gain victory over that, that you might be the humble person that as Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth? He lived in humility. How do you get to that point? How do you do that? See, David's victory in the physical realm teaches us on how to victory in the spiritual realm. You know what? We're not going to war against people in hand-to-hand combat. Oh, we're at war because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of darkness and evil that surrounds us.

And as David was surrounded by the enemies, east, west, north, and south, so we are surrounded by the enemy, but we are surrounded not only on the outside, but we're surrounded on the inside as well because of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the things that seem to be of the sinful nature. It's still there. Hasn't been eradicated. The stench of the old man still smells, and it smells the high heaven a lot of times. We got to subdue the smell. Yeah, the old man's dead, but the stench of the old man still remains.

We got to figure out how to squelch the smell because it's bad sometimes. It gets really bad. And David learned to win. Over in Psalm 18, it says in verse number 39, for thou has girded me with strength for battle. Thou has subdued under me those who rose up against me. That's David's testimony as to God's never leaving him. God subdued the enemies. Don't think that you can win the battles spiritually on your own. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it, right? God must build my house.

As a father, I can do everything I think is right. I can try to do the right thing over and over and over again, but if I'm not dependent upon God and God is empowering me to work through me, no matter what I do, no matter how much money I make, no matter how great education I give my children, no matter how great of expertise I teach them, I will destroy my home if I can't depend upon God to lead in and through me. Unless the Lord builds the house, not talking about a physical building where he puts with hammer and nails your house together.

He's talking about your home spiritually. Unless the Lord does it, you labor in vain who do all you can to make it happen. God does those things. That's why Paul said to the Galatians, oh, you foolish Galatians, having begun in the spirit, are you now trying to be perfected in the flesh? Having begun in spirit, you're not trying to work out your salvation? Are you trying to do it yourself? Are you trying to live the Christian life all on your own? Are you trying to make your marriage work? Are you trying to make your kids obey?

It just can't happen that way. You're trying to do it all yourself in the flesh and it doesn't work that way. We think it does. It doesn't work that way because the spiritual life is just that. It is a spiritual life, but you can't have a spiritual life devoid of the spirit. The spirit must be the energizer. The spirit must be the enabler. The spirit must be the encourager. The spirit must be everything you need to walk day by day serving the King. So important. So David would go and he would defeat the nations because he was surrounded by evil.

But through the power of God, he would do it. On top of that, he would dedicate the collections. Look what it says in verse number 11. King David also dedicated these to the Lord with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued. Notice he dedicated all the silver and gold.

He didn't keep any of it back for himself. Listen, he knew he couldn't build the temple, so he was going to beautify the temple. He knew he wasn't going to put it together, but he was going to make sure he got all the goods to make sure that whatever God needed for that temple would be beautiful because one of his sons would build it. And everything he got, the silver and the gold, while it was all directed toward pagan idol worship, he took it all and he directed it once again to the things of God because God owns everything.

And he gave it to God because he wanted to make sure that whatever a son would build would be the most beautiful temple for the living presence of God. And so he gave it all. He dedicated it all, held nothing back. He didn't say that he gave a tenth of all that he had to the Lord. He gave it all to the Lord because he wanted God to be honored. And so he would dedicate those collections to the Lord. And then when it came to the directing of his administration, look where it says, verse number 15. So David reigned over all Israel and David administered justice and righteousness for all his people.

Boy, that doesn't tell you about what Christ is going to do when he reigns over the entire world. Isaiah 9, verse number 7. You know that verse, right? The prophet Isaiah said it well. There will be no end to the increase of his government or peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it, to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. David would rule with righteousness. David would rule with justice because he becomes the picture of the Messiah who would come, the greater son of David who would rule over the whole world with justice and righteousness.

Boy, I tell you, what a great responsibility David had because David, listen, David was to picture to the nation the Messiah. What the Messiah would do, what Messiah would be like. Just as we as fathers picture to our children and to our wives God, his sacrifice, his love, his mercy. David's responsibility was huge, so much bigger than yours and mine. It was huge and yet he knew that in this chapter he must rule with justice and righteousness Listen to what the Bible says.

Book of Proverbs chapter 29, verse number 2. When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Let me ask you a question.

Are your children groaning today because a wicked man rules or are they rejoicing? Is your wife groaning today because a wicked man rules or is she rejoicing because a righteous man rules? When the righteous rule, the people rejoice. Why? Because they have God's best interest at stake. But when the wicked man rules, the people groan because they have their own interest at stake, their selfish interest at stake. And so when life's about you, guess what? Your wife groans. When life's about you, your children groan.

Why? Because you don't care about them, you care about you. And that details the wicked man. But when the righteous man rules, what happens? The people flourish. Why? Because they see somebody exemplifying Christ, his righteousness, his joy, his presence. Wow. And David knew that. And David had a huge responsibility to the nation itself to make sure they understood they were to follow the Lord God. Now, having said all that, here's the application. And I'm not going to finish it tonight, but here it is.

How do we become victorious warriors in the spiritual sense of the word, in the spiritual realm? The Bible says in the book of Romans, the eighth chapter, these words, verse number 37, but in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us.

Isn't that good? Overwhelmingly conquer, not just barely conquer, overwhelmingly conquer. You know, when you defeat the enemy and you overwhelm the enemy, you didn't just squeak by with a one run victory or a one point victory. You demolished the opponent, you overwhelmed the opponent. And the Lord God says through the pen of the apostle Paul, we are overwhelming conquerors through him who loved us.

So let me, if that's a stated fact, okay. Knowing that as Romans 16 says, Satan is soon to be crushed under our feet, the saints feet. Okay. If that's the case, why is it I lose the battle against sin? If God says that I am an overwhelming conqueror, why is my daily battle one more characterized by losing than by winning?

Why is it I can't seem to get an upper hand on those lustful passions that wage war in my soul? Why is it I can't get the upper hand on that emotional turmoil that's wreaking havoc on my soul that causes me to blow up and to lose my cool at the drop of a hat? Why is it I can't seem to control those sinful habits? If the Bible says that we are overwhelmingly conquerors, how come I am overwhelmed by defeat in my sinful life?

That's next week. So you got to come back. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for tonight and the life of David. What is stated in the physical realm is parallel with the spiritual realm. We need to be victors in every area of our lives. God, we need your help. God, we can't do it without you. The intimacy for a lot of us escapes us. Our relationship with you is marked more by by coldness than sweet communion. We seem sometimes like it's dry. It's hard to communicate with you when in reality you said come boldly before the throne of grace that you might receive mercy, grace in time of need.

Lord, we need to be the victors. We need you to go before us. So I pray for each person in this room that God you do a mighty work in their lives. They would go back to spending time with you, confessing their sin, communing with you, praying to you, reading your word, memorizing your word, diving deep into the word of God. You said that the sluggard he wants but never obtains. But the diligent, Lord, they gain the blessings because you make them fat. I want these people, Lord, all of us to be spiritually fat because, Lord, we have dug deep into your word and we want to know what it is you have for us because all scripture is profitable for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God, the woman of God will be thoroughly equipped to do every good work.

God, go before us. And as you go through this week, may we walk in dependency upon thee. May we learn to lean upon thee that we might serve thee with all of our heart. Pray in Jesus name. Amen.