1 Samuel 23

Well, turn with me to 1 Samuel, chapter 23.

1 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

We're continuing in our series in this book tonight.

It's a bit of a long chapter, so I'm going to start by reading the first half,

and then we will get into some of the second half as we go along.

1 Samuel 23, if you're looking at a pew Bible, that's page 245.

Now they told David,

Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Calah and are robbing the threshing floors.

Therefore David inquired of the Lord,

Shall I go and attack these Philistines?

And the Lord said to David,

Go and attack the Philistines and save Calah.

But David's men said to him,

Behold, we are afraid here in Judah.

How much more than if we go to Calah against the armies of the Philistines?

Then David inquired of the Lord again.

And the Lord answered him,

Arise, go down to Calah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.

And David and his men went to Calah and fought with the Philistines

and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow.

So David saved the inhabitants of Calah.

When Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, had fled to David, to Calah,

he had come down with an ephod in his hand.

Now it was told Saul that David had come to Calah.

And Saul said,

God has given him into my hand,

for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.

And Saul summoned all the people to war,

to go down to Calah, to besiege David and his men.

David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him,

and he said to Abiathar the priest,

Bring the ephod here.

Then David said,

O Lord, the God of Israel,

your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Calah

to destroy the city on my account.

Will the men of Calah surrender me into his hand?

Will Saul come down as your servant has heard,

O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.

And the Lord said,

He will come down.

Then David said,

Will the men of Calah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?

And the Lord said,

They will surrender you.

Then David and his men,

who were about 600,

arose and departed from Calah,

and they went wherever they could go.

When Saul was told that David had escaped from Calah,

he gave up the expedition.

And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness,

in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph.

And Saul sought him every day,

but God did not give him into his hand.

Have you ever been betrayed?

Maybe you sacrificed to help someone who is desperate and in need.

Maybe you loaned them some money when they were broke,

or you spent long hours on the phone or in person walking with them through a crisis.

Or you advocated for them when they were wrongfully accused.

But then perhaps sometime later,

you came to them and you needed their help.

And they seemed to quickly forget all that you had done for them.

And they left you hanging and made excuses or seemed to think nothing of it.

Maybe there was someone that you thought you could count on.

A long-time friend,

or a neighbor,

a family member,

trusted co-worker,

maybe even your husband or wife.

And then they cheated on you.

They talked behind your back,

hid the truth from you,

stole your money,

and now you're dealing with all the painful consequences.

Being betrayed.

And you know that you can't trust them anymore,

and it hurts.

This was David's situation

in this chapter.

Twice, not just once, but twice,

he was betrayed

by people who should have been on his side.

First, as we just read,

he was betrayed by the people of Calah.

Now, the people of Calah had been in trouble.

Verse 1,

the Philistines were fighting against them,

robbing their threshing floors.

In other words,

they were seizing the stores of grain,

their food storehouses.

They were frustrating their work,

and they were threatening their ability to feed themselves.

They were threatening their very lives.

And David stood up for them.

And he went down to Calah.

He fought with the Philistines.

He brought away their livestock,

struck them with a great blow.

It says,

David saved.

He rescued the inhabitants of Calah.

Courageously.

And you know,

at this point in the book of Samuel,

David is not

a powerful king

with a great big army,

reigning from a huge palace,

and he just sends a detachment out there

to do the job.

He's hiding out in the wilderness,

running away from Saul,

who wants to kill him.

It says the people that he was commanding

were in distress,

in debt,

and discontented.

Just imagine leading that group of people.

Distressed,

indebted,

discontented.

We talked about that last week.

But that's where David was.

He wasn't doing that well himself,

but he sacrificed

to go down to Calah

and take a risk.

And he saved them

by God's power

and God's grace

and God's direction.

And he won a great victory

on their behalf.

But then,

when David needed help,

the people were ready

to hand him over.

Saul summoned the people

to besiege David,

surround Calah,

and David said to the Lord,

will Saul come down?

Yes,

will the people surrender me?

Yes,

they will surrender you.

And so David fled.

And it said,

he and his men

went wherever they could go.

Now,

in one sense,

the reaction of the people of Calah

was understandable.

They had the whole king of Israel

trying to mobilize

the whole nation

to besiege their small city.

And in the last chapter,

Saul's henchmen

had just massacred

all the priests at Nob

and had leveled the whole town.

So we can understand

why the people of Calah

would be fearful.

Why they might think,

let's save our own skin

by handing over David.

They were just trying

to stay alive

any way they could.

But you know,

what they had forgotten

was that they had just been

in the same situation

with the Philistines.

The Philistines were besieging them.

The Philistines were robbing

their threshing floors

and David came down

to save them.

And now they were

in the same kind of situation

with Saul threatening them

and they're ready

to hand David over

who had just delivered them

from that same kind of situation.

So there you go.

David was betrayed once

by the people

he had just rescued.

But he was also betrayed

a second time

by the people of Ziph.

Go down to verse 19.

Then the Ziphites

went up to Saul

at Gibeah.

So David,

verse 14 says

David was staying

in the wilderness of Ziph.

Verse 19,

the Ziphites went up

to Saul at Gibeah

saying,

Is not David hiding among us

in the strongholds

at Horesh

on the hill of Haculah

which is south of Jeshamon?

Now come down, O king,

according to all your heart's

desire to come down

and our part shall be

to surrender him

into the king's hand.

These guys go to Saul

on their own initiative.

They don't wait for him

to threaten

to besiege their city.

They say,

Saul, we want to help you.

Here's this guy David.

We'll help you capture him.

Now both Ziph and Calah

were in the territory of Judah.

David's home tribe.

They should have been loyal to David

more than anywhere else in Israel.

And yet they're ready

to hand him over.

The people in Calah

were flaky

and fearful.

The people in Ziph

were simply treacherous

and unreliable.

And as a result,

David was left

to fend for himself.

He was

out in the wilderness.

Five times in this chapter,

verse 14,

verse 24,

verse 25,

it says David was in the wilderness.

Hiding out in the wilderness.

Hiding out in the wilderness.

David was betrayed by men.

That's the first thing

we see in this chapter.

And you know,

if you've been in a situation

like this,

there's temptations that come

when we've been betrayed.

Right?

Temptations to despair.

And

just want to

completely give up.

Temptations to

become bitter

and enraged.

And have bitterness and rage

burning deep within us.

Temptations to

never trust anyone ever again.

And simply try to live

a self-enclosed,

self-protected life.

You know that we see

that God

draws near to David

when he's been betrayed.

We see three ways

in this chapter

that when David

had been betrayed by men

that he was strengthened

by God.

So first we see

God gave him guidance

from Abiathar,

from a wise counselor.

Second,

we see God sent him

encouragement

from a faithful friend,

from Jonathan.

And third,

we'll see that he sent him

protection from the rock

itself.

So we're going to go through

these three ways

that God

strengthened David

and see how he

strengthens us

as well.

So first,

the guidance of a wise

counselor.

This is Abiathar.

Abiathar appears

in verses 2 through 12.

Actually,

verse 6

is where he's first mentioned.

But

verse 6 says,

when Abiathar,

the son of Ahimelech,

had fled to David

and Calah,

he had come down

with an ephod

in his hand.

Now,

an ephod

was an instrument

that the priests

in Israel

were authorized

to use

in the Old Testament

to seek God's guidance

in particular situations.

We don't know

exactly how it worked,

but it was

a particular instrument

that God

had set apart

for them to use

in order to seek

guidance.

And verse 6

says,

Abiathar came down

with this

instrument

for seeking

guidance from the Lord.

And it's actually

a key verse

in this section.

So if you look at

verse 2

through verse 12,

there's actually

an interesting

outline

to it.

So at the beginning

in verse 2

through 4,

David inquires

of the Lord

twice.

Should I go

down to Calah?

At the end,

verse 9

through 12,

David also inquires

of the Lord

twice.

Is Saul

going to come down

and will they

hand me over?

In other words,

do I need to leave?

In the middle,

verse 5,

if you sort of

take the next step

toward the middle,

verse 5,

David went down

to save Calah.

In verse 7 and 8,

Saul goes down

to besiege Calah.

There's a contrast,

right?

David goes down

to save them.

Saul goes to destroy them.

And verse 6

is this middle verse.

So this is a way

that a lot of

ancient stories

were organized.

They'd sort of

be symmetrical

on the edges

and have

an important statement

in the middle

that sort of

is the key

to the story.

And verse 6

is that key

that says,

Abiathar had come

down to David

with an ephod

in his hand.

And so,

the way the story

is organized,

I think we're meant

to see that

Abiathar

and the ephod

was the way

that David inquired

of the Lord,

not just in verses

9 through 12

at the end,

but also in verse

2 through 4

at the beginning.

So in other words,

Abiathar,

the priest,

the wise counselor,

gave David

the guidance

he needed.

So first,

he gave David

guidance from the Lord

to go down

to Calah

and rescue the people.

And then,

he gave David

guidance he needed

to leave

and get away

and don't stay.

Now,

you might ask,

well,

so what does

this all mean?

Right?

So if you want

guidance from the Lord

today,

the ephod

doesn't exist.

It's not

one of God's

appointed means

of guidance

in the New Testament.

It was there

for a time

in the Old Testament.

It's not available

anymore.

But,

if you're looking

for guidance,

let me give you

three things

to start with.

Number one,

Jesus is our

great high priest.

Abie Ather was a priest.

Jesus is our

great high priest.

We can draw near

to him in prayer.

And it says

we can seek

grace and mercy

to help us

in our time of need.

So that's the first

thing we should do

is seek out God

and draw near

to Jesus

through prayer.

Second,

we can read

the scriptures

which show us

God's character

and his purposes,

broadly speaking,

for our lives.

Third,

we can seek

counsel from

older and wiser

believers

or even just

other brothers

and sisters

in Christ

who are walking

the road with us

when we face

difficult and

complex decisions

or challenges.

And you know,

a good counselor

like Abie Ather

will sometimes

encourage you

to step out

in faith

and be strong

and courageous

like David

in the beginning.

David and

especially his men

were a little

fearful.

They're like,

really?

we're hiding

out in the

wilderness

and you want

us to go

rescue this

city from

the Philistines?

That's like

inviting trouble.

It's like making

our life that much

harder

and putting us

in that much

more danger.

Really?

And God says,

no, go.

Be strong

and courageous.

I'll be with you.

And sometimes

that's what

wise counsel

looks like.

It's saying,

God is with you.

Trust that he's

with you.

Even when the odds

seem to be stacked

against you,

extend yourself.

Sacrifice to help

someone else

who's in need.

Be strong

and courageous

and go forward.

But you know,

sometimes a good

counselor will also

advise you to use

wisdom.

Like at the end.

Will Saul come down?

Yes.

Will they surrender you?

Yes.

Get out of here.

Leave.

Right?

Stepping out in faith

is not the same thing

as being naive

about people.

Sometimes you need

to keep your distance

from people

who aren't trustworthy.

And sometimes

even if you're willing

to forgive someone,

which we should be

willing to forgive someone,

it's not necessarily

wise to trust them.

Sometimes we need

to recognize

if someone is flaky

and not put ourselves

in a situation

where we're

absolutely depending

completely on them.

That's what we see

here at the end.

There's this wise balance

that sometimes God says

to us,

be strong and courageous.

And sometimes he says

to us,

use wisdom

and be careful.

And that's what

wise counsel looks like

from one believer

to another

by the grace of God.

So David was courageous

to go down

and save Kayla

and he was wise

to get up and leave

when he needed to.

And so that's one way

God strengthens us.

It's through the guidance

of wise counselors.

And if,

like Dave,

if you're in the wilderness,

if you've been betrayed,

that's something we need.

We need God's

wise counsel

that God provides

through one another.

Second,

second way God

strengthens us

is through the encouragement

of faithful friends.

Verse 15 through 18

talks about Jonathan.

Let me read those verses.

David saw that Saul

had come out

to seek his life.

David was in the wilderness

of Ziph at Horesh

and Donathan,

Saul's son,

rose and went to David

at Horesh

and strengthened his hand

in God.

And he said to him,

do not fear

for the hand of Saul

my father

shall not find you.

You shall be king

over Israel

and I shall be next to you.

Saul my father

also knows this.

And the two of them

made a covenant

before the Lord.

David remained at Horesh

and Jonathan went home.

This is the last time

that David and Jonathan

meet in the book of Samuel.

But we see once again

what we've seen all along

is Jonathan's fierce loyalty

to David.

His steadfast commitment

to him.

Even when David was betrayed,

even when he was hiding out

in the wilderness,

Jonathan sought him out.

He went out to him

to encourage him

and reaffirm his loyalty to him.

In the New Testament

it says,

in the book of Hebrews

it says,

encourage one another

every day.

It also says,

let's not give up

meeting together

as some are in the habit

of doing

but let us encourage

one another.

That's part of why

we gather

every Sunday.

And in small group

Bible studies

during the week

to encourage one another

like the Bible says.

Like Jonathan did

for David.

And Jonathan is a great

example of what

Christian encouragement

looks like.

You know,

first of all,

Jonathan's encouragement

was intentional.

Think about what

Jonathan did

to go find David

in the middle

of the wilderness.

Jonathan didn't just

wander into church

some night

and, you know,

the service ends

and somebody comes up to you

or, you know,

you see somebody

and you say,

hey, you know,

I was thinking of you

this week.

I wanted to encourage you.

You know,

I was praying for you.

Whatever.

No, he didn't just

run into David.

He didn't just run into him

on the street

casually.

It says,

he rose and went

to David at Horesh.

David was hiding

out in the wilderness.

Think,

imagine Jonathan.

Okay,

David's hiding out

from Saul.

I have to go find him.

I don't know

where he is.

He's constantly

moving around.

I can't ask anyone

who might betray

me to Saul.

Right?

He has to go through

all this danger,

all this difficulty,

climbing the rugged hills,

trekking through the woods,

wandering through the desert,

trying to find David

to encourage him.

You know,

what does it look like

for us to intentionally

encourage one another

as brothers and sisters

in Christ?

you know,

maybe you notice

that there's someone

who you haven't seen

for a few weeks

here at church.

Or maybe someone

shared a prayer request

in your small group

that they've been

struggling with depression

or discouragement

or doubt.

Or maybe you know

a fellow believer

who's just swamped.

They're swamped with work

or they're swamped

with family responsibilities

or health problems.

What would it look like

to encourage them

intentionally?

Well, first of all,

I think it looks like

noticing

that someone

needs encouragement.

Sometimes, honestly,

we're too self-centered

to even notice

when our brothers

and sisters,

even sitting right next to us,

need encouragement.

You know,

but what if you know

someone needs encouragement?

Well, maybe start by

praying for them regularly.

If someone shares

a prayer request

at your small group,

pray for them

sometime during that

week.

And then maybe

shoot them a text message

or call them and say,

I just wanted you to know

I was praying for you today.

Or I just wanted to check in

and say,

how's it going?

I know you're going

through a rough time.

Or maybe you even need

to do what Jonathan did.

Maybe show up

at their doorstep

and bring a pizza.

Say, here,

I wanted to bring you dinner.

You know,

or drop by their office.

Sometimes there's no substitute

for actually showing up

in person.

Now, I'm not talking

about stalking.

Okay?

I'm not talking about

stalking somebody

that you don't really know

or somebody who doesn't

really want you

to encourage them.

I'm talking about

what it looks like

to treat each other

like family

in the church.

These are the things

that you do for

family

or close friends.

And that's what the Bible

calls us to be

for each other.

It's brothers and sisters

in Christ

who have each other's back.

And who go through

the trouble

to intentionally

encourage

one another.

But you know,

what Jonathan does here,

well,

and the reason

we can do that

is,

think about this,

that's what Jesus Christ

has done for us.

Jesus has sought us out

when we were lost

and wandering.

He's brought us

near to Himself.

He sent His Spirit

to encourage us

and be with us

when we're depressed

or despairing

or feel betrayed

or alone.

He's there.

But what we also see

in Jonathan

is that encouragement

is not just intentional.

Encouragement's about,

and encouragement's not just

about being with people

yourself.

It's about

pointing people to God.

What does Jonathan do?

Verse 16,

it says,

He strengthened

David's hand

in God.

What does he say to him?

He says,

Don't fear,

for the hand of Saul

my father shall not find you.

You shall be king

over Israel,

and I shall be next to you.

He,

he,

he,

he,

strengthens David's hand

in God.

All right,

he brings God's word

and God's presence

to David.

And he reminds him

of God's promises

that one day

David would be king.

Now sadly,

Jonathan actually

wouldn't be standing

beside him.

Although David would care

for Jonathan's family.

Jonathan dies

before David becomes king.

But,

but it is true

that God had promised David

and he had sent

the prophet Samuel

to anoint him,

after all,

right?

God had made a promise

that David would one day

be king.

And Jonathan reaffirms

God's promise.

So that's,

that's what true

Christian encouragement

looks like.

It's not just going

to be with people

because you know what?

Jonathan could only

stay with David

for a short time.

Eventually,

he returned home

and actually he,

it,

this is the last time

that we have a record

that Jonathan saw David.

You know,

you can't always be there

24-7

for every single person

you're trying to encourage.

And you can't expect

somebody else

to do that for you either

if you need encouragement.

But what you can do

is go and be with someone

and remind them

of God's word

and remind them

of God's presence.

And you going to be with them

is a physical reminder,

a physical sign

to them

that God hasn't left you alone

and he won't.

And even when

you go home,

God hasn't left them.

So that's what

Christian encouragement

looks like.

Jonathan strengthened

David's hand in God

even though it seemed like

everything was up for grabs.

You know,

throughout this chapter

there's actually,

if you've noticed,

the word hand

occurs over and over.

And verse 4,

God says to David,

I'll give the Philistines

into your hand.

Then verse 7,

Saul says,

oh,

God has given David

into my hand.

Verse 11 and 12,

will the men of Cala

surrender me

into Saul's hand?

Yes, they will.

But then verse 14 says,

God didn't give David

into Saul's hand.

And so there's this

sort of question.

Everything seems up for grabs.

Saul's,

is it in Saul's hands?

Is it in David's hands?

And Jonathan says,

remember,

you are in God's hand.

And Jesus Christ said,

I'm the good shepherd

and I give my sheep

eternal life

and they shall never perish

and no one

can snatch them

out of my hand.

So if you have put your trust

in Jesus Christ

as your Lord

and your Savior

and your good shepherd,

no one can take you

and snatch you away

from God's good hand.

Be reminded of that.

So,

that's encouragement.

So we've seen

wise counsel.

We've seen friendly,

the encouragement

of a friend.

And third,

we see protection

from the rock.

Verse 24

to the end of the chapter.

Let me read.

Now David and his men

were in the wilderness

of Maon

in the Arabah

to the south of Jeshamon

and Saul and his men

went to seek him

and David was told

so he went down

to the rock

and lived in the wilderness

of Maon.

And when Saul heard that,

he pursued after David

in the wilderness of Maon.

Notice,

wilderness,

wilderness,

wilderness,

wilderness.

Saul went on one side

of the mountain

and David and his men

on the other side

of the mountain

and David was hurrying

to get away from Saul

and Saul and his men

were closing in on David

and his men to capture them

and a messenger came to Saul

saying,

hurry and come

for the Philistines

have made a raid

against the land.

So Saul returned

from pursuing after David

and went against the Philistines.

Therefore,

that place was called

the Rock of Escape.

Seems like Saul's closing in.

Saul's on one side

of the mountain,

David's on the other.

David's trying to get away

and suddenly

a messenger comes to Saul.

Saul has to go off

and deal with another

threat to his kingdom.

David's saved

just in the nick of time

and he says

it's called

the Rock of Escape

or the Rock of Parting

or the Rock of Divisions.

And you know,

what you see in this story

is that there was one thing

that stood between David

and death.

Between David

and Saul

who was coming after him.

It was the rock,

the mountain

that he was standing on.

Right?

Saul's on one side,

David's on the other side,

Saul's coming after him

and the only thing

that's standing between

Saul and David

is that rock.

Right?

And that rock

was a physical demonstration

of God's presence

protecting David.

Now the book of Samuel

begins and ends

with a song.

It begins with

the song of Hannah

and in the beginning

of Hannah's song

in 1 Samuel chapter 2

1 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

Hannah says

there is no rock

like our God.

And at the end of Samuel

2 Samuel 22

it ends with David's song

and David's song

begins

The Lord is my rock

and my fortress

and my deliverer.

My God is the rock

of my salvation

who brought me out

from my enemies

who delivered me

from men of violence.

You see God

is that rock

that stands between us

and our enemies

and between us

and death.

He's our refuge

and our strength

in times of trouble.

And even when

your friend

has visited you

and gone

and even

even if you're still

looking for wise counsel

you can still depend

on

God

to be

your rock.

God's the one

constant

the one that we can

count on

even when nobody else

is there for us.

And that psalm

that Pastor Nick read

between two of the songs

Psalm 54

was written

it says

when David was in

the wilderness of Ziph

and the Ziphites

went to Saul

and wanted to hand David over

and he wrote that psalm

that says

God is my helper

God is the upholder

of my life

he is the one

he is the rock.

David was betrayed

by men

but he was

he was strengthened

by God.

Through his guidance

through

through encouragement

and through protection.

Now what do we take away

from this?

I want to step back

from this chapter

for a little bit

and just talk about

where we are

in the story of David.

As I've said

this section of Samuel

focuses on David

being in the wilderness

when David was betrayed

when people were

seeking his life

when he was

enduring great hardships

and only later on

would David be exalted

and come to rule

over a glorious kingdom.

And there's a pattern

in the Bible

that suffering

comes before glory.

The wilderness

comes before

the promised land.

and betrayal

and hardship

come before

the kingdom.

In the New Testament

in Luke 24

Jesus said to his followers

on the road to Emmaus

he said

was it not necessary

that the Christ

the anointed one

the Messiah

should suffer

these things

and then enter

into his glory.

And it says

beginning with Moses

and all the prophets

he showed them

interpreted to them

in all the scriptures

the things concerning himself.

And sometimes you might wonder

well where does it say

in the Old Testament

that the Messiah

would suffer

and then

be glorified?

Well yes it says it

in Isaiah 53

and in Psalm 22

and in some of the

prophetic texts

but you know

this story

of the story of David

in the book of Samuel

sets a pattern

that goes through

the whole Bible.

And in the story

of David

God was laying down

a pattern

for the future Messiah

the ultimate king

King Jesus.

And the pattern

of David's life

was suffering

that eventually

led to glory.

And that's the very road

that Jesus walked.

He went into the wilderness

he was betrayed

he was humiliated

he was killed.

But then

God raised Jesus

from the dead

and just as David

was strengthened

by God

in the wilderness

and later on

exalted to be

the greatest king

of Israel

God strengthened Jesus

through his sufferings

and then God

exalted him

as Lord and Savior

over all

in his resurrection

and he's our king

our great

and true king.

So in the story

of David

we see a picture

of Jesus

who's to come

but we also see

a pattern

of our lives

as believers

in Jesus.

Because the New Testament

also says

it says in Acts 14

22

through many hardships

we must enter

the kingdom of God.

And just like David

had to live

in the wilderness

and go through

sufferings

and even be betrayed.

The Bible says

that that's

often what will

characterize

our life on earth.

But there is

a glorious kingdom

to come.

When Jesus comes again

and if we put

our trust in him

we will be part

of that eternal kingdom.

And all the suffering

and all the time

in the wilderness

and all the betrayals

and all the tears

will be washed away.

And in the midst of

while we walk

that path

we can be confident

that like David

even though we may

be betrayed

God will provide.

He provides

through wise counselors

like Abiyathar

he provides

through faithful friends

like Jonathan

and he provides

by being our rock

who protects us

who stands

in between us

and death.

Isn't that what Christ

did on the cross?

And one day

in the resurrection

he'll bring us

to glory.

Let's pray.

Lord God

we thank you

for your faithfulness

to David.

We thank you

that even in

a dark time

of his life

when he was

betrayed

twice

Lord we thank you

that you strengthened him.

We thank you

that you

did not abandon him.

And Lord

we thank you

for your son

Jesus Christ

who walked this road

of suffering

and glory

of betrayal

and yet

of the kingdom.

And Lord

we pray that you

would strengthen us

encourage us.

Lord help us

to be for one another

wise counselors

and faithful friends

and help us

most of all

to point one another

to rely on you

as our rock.

May you be our rock

in the midst

of the storms

of life.

And may you

lead us safely

home to you.

We pray these things

in Jesus name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.