Heat and Drought of Human Life (part 4)

[Speaker 1] Trust me these fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God will encourage the godly with these words of exhortation and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] Now, we have been considering the topic, "Heat and Drought of Human Life." In the course of the three weeks, we have been able to talk about what is the meaning of heat and drought, or what are the meanings of those two words, an operational definition for them. We saw that we meant challenges, difficulties, problems that come as a kind of suffering in different ways in our walk with God. We have been able also to look at why is it that challenges, difficulties, problems, affliction, tribulations, why are they inevitable in our Christian walk? We saw that they are inevitable, that God never said we will not go through them. But what God assured is that in going through them, they are going to make us; they are not going to mar us. They are going to make us better people, better Christians. We went through the scriptures to see why they are inevitable. And then we have been able also to look at, apart from why they are inevitable, the purpose, their role, the ministry of suffering in the life of the believer. The ministry of challenges, the ministry of problems. When these problems, challenges, afflictions, when they come, what role are they expected to play in our lives? Their ministry. We have been able to do that extensively last week. And last week, we also concluded in our concluding part last week was that we need to note that there is no trial, there is no challenge, no affliction, no tribulation, nothing like that that will come your way. You must have three perspectives to them. Number one, you must know that it is common. No affliction is unique. Hallelujah. No challenge is unique. You don't say, "Ah, this type of my own, nobody has seen this type before." That is a lie. The Bible says it is such as is common to men. Commonize it. Please, commonize it. And then number two, we saw that the faithfulness of God guarantees that no believer will be tried beyond what the believer can bear. If any believer is tried beyond what he or she can bear, then it means God is not faithful. But we know that God will forever be faithful. So no believer can ever be tried beyond what they can bear. And lastly, the third perspective to challenges, difficulties, problems is that let us be on our guard. God, who allowed these difficulties and challenges to come, with the difficulties and the challenge, God will also provide a way of escape. In every trial, there is a way of escape. In every trial, there is a way of escape. So it is very, very important for us to note this in looking at trials and challenges. Then we also looked at what should be the attitude of the believer, the principle of God in dealing with challenges. And we concluded last week that it is simply trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. So we pray now to open the meeting as we go into the study. We pray and then that hymn will be, we will first sing that hymn, "Trust and Obey." Then we begin to look at biblical examples. That's what we said we would do this week. Biblical examples. Biblical examples of how of this principle of dealing with storm, storms, of dealing with trials, of dealing with challenges. So let's have a word of prayer. Almighty God, we are grateful unto you. we thank you again for this time of gathering together. We thank you for your love and your mercies. We thank you for this great privilege. Lord, we commit our gathering together this evening into your hands. Lord, we pray that as we look through scriptures, Lord, please speak to our hearts. Lord, our God, you know our different situations. We who are here physically, our brethren who are connecting with us on Mixlr, our brethren who are connecting with us on Telegram. Lord, you know our different situations. Lord, I just pray as we go through your word again in looking at biblical examples. Lord, I just pray, meet us in those areas of our lives where individually we need you most, in the name of Jesus. Lord, please speak to our hearts, address our situations. Grant us a definite encounter, something that will remain with us, something that will last with us, something that will give us a permanent change and a permanent refreshment and blessing. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. So let's sing that hymn together. It is a very popular hymn. It is not, you can just go online if you don't have your SS&S with you. Search for "When we walk with the Lord." The first line is, "When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word." If you are using SS&S, it is hymn 642. But if you are not using SS&S, you can just go online, just search for "When we walk with the Lord." I want us to sing that hymn together as the opening hymn for today discipleship class. So let's go together. [Singing] When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt nor a fear, not a sigh nor a tear, Can abide while we trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, But our toil He doth richly repay; Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown nor a cross, But is blessed if we trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. But we never can prove the delights of His love Until all on the altar we lay; For the favor He shows, and the joy He bestows, Are for them who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet, Or we'll walk by His side in the way; What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; Never fear, only trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. [Speaker 2] I want you to notice some of the wordings of the hymn. Very, very important for us. It says that it is very, very important for us to know that the only way to be happy in Jesus is to trust and obey. When you look at stanza four, it says, "But we never can prove the delights that's in his love until all on the altar we lay. The favor he shows, the joy he bestows, are only for those who trust and obey." Many times you don't know the fullness of the joy of the Spirit until you learn to trust and obey God. You don't know the depth when the Bible says the joy of the Lord is my strength. When the joy of the Lord becomes your strength, but it's for those who trust and obey. And then there is something there in the last stanza. It says, "What he says we will do, where he sends we will go. Never fear. Don't fear. Just trust and obey. Just trust and obey." Let's make up our minds that as believers, we will walk with the Lord in the light of his word. Make sure that your walk with the Lord is in the light of his word. Don't walk in the light of your own understanding. Don't walk in the light of your own feeling. Don't walk in the light of your own emotion. Don't walk in the light of your own knowledge. Don't walk in the light of what you think you understand about life, or what you think you understand about a situation. Walk with the Lord in the light of his word. Walk with the Lord in the light of his word. One major problem, one major challenge today for believers is wanting to walk with the Lord, but not in the light of his word. We are walking with the Lord, but in the light of our emotions. In the light of what we know. In the light of what society is telling us. In the light of what we feel. In the light of our fears. We have so many fears and out of that fear, we do certain things. I pray for you wherever you are listening to me. Courage to obey God. Courage to follow him. Strength, strength to walk with the Lord in the light of his Lord, in the light of his word. May it be granted unto you in the name of Jesus Christ. So we are moving on today to look at biblical example, biblical example. We have been discussing this matter about heat and drought of human life. And today we want to move to the concluding part of this topic, which is biblical example. Biblical example in the life of people, people who are believers, and we want to learn lessons from their lives. And as we journey together this evening, please open your mind to learn. The first example I want to call your attention to is the life of the man Joseph. The life of Joseph. Interestingly, Joseph was something we have been studying, the man Joseph, the uncompromising Joseph. We have been studying that with our singles every first Saturday. We concluded that last month, the uncompromising Joseph, in our singles' club. And today, we just want to look at something about the life of Joseph, not in the direction of his uncompromising life, but in the direction of some things that the Bible was saying around the life of Joseph so that we can understand we can see this principle of drought and heat in human life. So let's take let's turn our Bible to Genesis 37. Genesis 37. That's where we have the story about Joseph. The whole story of Joseph is between Genesis 37 and Genesis chapter 40, what we want to look at. But we will not be reading all the chapters. We'll just be making reference to some important thing. In 37, Joseph was in his father's house with his brothers. One thing we notice about Joseph in his father's house was that Joseph, unlike his other brothers, was an upright person. Joseph, unlike his other other children of Jacob, was an upright person. How did we know? We saw that in the verse two. We saw that in the verse two of that Genesis chapter 37. We can see that in the verse two. The Bible was talking about Joseph and the Bible made us said something about him that is important for our learning. It says in the verse two, "This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father." So you see that while Joseph was with them, doing the work of the father, unlike them, Joseph wasn't doing what they were doing. Rather, he will come back home to report the wrong things they did to their father. So you notice that all from the beginning, Joseph was somebody that was upright. Don't forget we are looking at biblical example of suffering and affliction in the life of the godly, in the life of a believer. So we have been able to establish from this place that Joseph somehow was somebody who lived a different life from the other children. These children of Bilhah and Zilpah, Joseph was living a completely different life from them. He will not join them to do evil, and there was also courage on his part to report what they did to their father. Even when they are older than him. He was a lad among them, like a young boy, but he will report them to their father. That was the type of life that Joseph lived. And of course, in living that life, you know how alongside in the story, his first dream, his second dream, how everything went, his brothers hated him, his father was angry with him. His brothers, they put things together, they betrayed him. He was found himself inside a dry well. Reuben was to save him, but unfortunately Reuben could not before Reuben could get to to where he kept him, he had been sold into slavery. And then the brothers conspired, told a lie to their father that they found his clothes, laced with blood. So they believe that a wild animal must have killed Joseph. That was how they deceived their father. And their father wept and wept and wept that Joseph indeed was dead. And the story continued. Now what I want us to see in that is that the Bible says that many are the afflictions of the righteous. But from them all, the Lord delivers him. [Psalm 34:19] They wanted to kill him. Reuben delivered him from their hand that they should not kill him, they should put him inside the well. Reuben was to come back to take him out of the well. By the time he got there, he had been sold. It will look like, "Oh, Reuben could not get Joseph to deliver." But because God had a better plan for Joseph. If Reuben was able to take him back to his father, the plan and purposes of God for Joseph would not have been established. What I am trying to make you see, number one, is that that trial that came the way of Joseph was not a trial that is beyond what he could bear. And with that trial, God provided a way of escape. Instead of being killed by his brothers, he was sold to Egypt. A place where he was to go to fulfill his purpose in life. So you see that despite the trial, it was not beyond what he could bear. Although it looked so painful. How could your brothers have sold you, betrayed you, sold you as slaves to the Ishmaelite. It looks one kind. Oh, ah, what kind of thing is this? Why is my life turning? But you see what God was doing in the life of Joseph. It was not a trial that was beyond his capacity because it's a trial that was within the capacity of God's purpose for his life. So the trial had to continue until he got to Egypt because Joseph must get to Egypt if the purpose of God for his life must be fulfilled. So listen to me. When trial seems to persist, when trial seems to move on, don't become discouraged. Don't become dejected. It is because it is collaborating together for your ultimate purpose in life. Lift up your head and be glad. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. No matter what is happening around you, it is going to it is going to turn out for your good. Eventually he got to Egypt. And when he got to Egypt, there is something that the Bible said that I quickly want to call our attention to in chapter 39. In chapter 39, verse 1, the Bible says, "Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there." I want to ask you, why not somebody else? Why is it that it was Potiphar that bought Joseph? And I want you to note something that the Bible gave an introduction about Potiphar that is significant to the purpose of God for Joseph in life. The Bible says, "Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt and Potiphar," listen to it, "and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh." So the person that must buy Joseph must be an officer of Pharaoh, so that by the time the person wants to punish Joseph, the person will be and listen, he's a captain of the guard. Potiphar was not a small person. He was a captain. He must be a respectable person, such that by the time he wants to punish Joseph and put him in prison, he will not put Joseph in ordinary prison. He will put Joseph in the prison where Pharaoh normally kept his own prisoners. So that Joseph can have an access to Pharaoh after he will have interpreted the dream of the prisoners of Pharaoh. Oh, I want to tell you over there, does it look as if things are difficult now, things are challenging? God is working around your life. In every affliction, in every suffering, it looks like Joseph have moved from being a child. He was a child in his father's house. He moved on to be a slave. As a slave, he was sold again as a slave to somebody. It looks as if his life was going backward from childhood to slavehood. But I am telling you, God was working around his life. And I want to tell you, brother, sister that is listening to me, when it look as if you are serving God with all your heart, you are faithful, you are godly, you are following the Lord, and it looks as if affliction is persisting. It looks as if from childhood to slavehood. Oh, don't be discouraged. Baba is working around your life. With every trial, God is working out something. With every trial, God is working out something. God is working towards something. And I pray over your life, you will get to that place that God intends for you in the name of Jesus Christ. He's working out something. Honestly, he's working out something for you. The Bible says these things, they are written down for our learning. You will see that in Romans chapter 15. Look at Romans chapter 15. All of these stories that we are reading, they are not just stories for us to read stories. No. They are written down for our learning so that we can understand the way God works. These things they are written down for our learning so that we can understand the way God works. Look at Romans chapter 15 verse 4. The Bible says, "For whatsoever things were written down before," whatsoever things were written down before, "were written for our learning, that we through the patience and the comfort of the scripture might have hope." Are you seeing that? I read it in the NLT translation. "Such things were written down in scripture long ago to teach us. They were written down to teach us. They give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises." Are you somebody waiting for God's promises? Are you somebody who is true to God and you are following God? And it looks as if from childhood to slavehood. It looks as if what is happening to my life? But I want to tell you, if you are somebody who is waiting for God's promises, you are somebody who is true to God and you are following God, I want you to know. There is no trial that comes your way that God is not aware of. God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tried beyond what you can bear. With every trial, there is a way of escape. Joseph was looking like a slave in Potiphar's house. But actually, entering Potiphar's house was a way out to his own purpose in life. Do you know that? That entering into Potiphar's house was actually a way of escape to his own glory. Because if he does not enter Potiphar's house, he would have missed his own glory. So what looks like imprisonment was a way of escape. What looks like an affliction was that God was working around it. And I tell you, believe the Lord today. If you are faithfully walking with God, do not fear suffering, do not fear challenges, do not fear problems that may come around your life. But lift up your head in faith. Trust and obey. There is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust him, that Lord Jesus you are working out something and you will work it out. And I'm telling you, if you serve the Lord with such faith, if you follow up with him, just like the woman with issue of blood, your expectation they will not be cut off in the name of Jesus Christ. He's working out something. Honestly, he's working out something for you. Look at what followed. The Bible gave us an introduction about Joseph, about Potiphar, was an officer of Pharaoh. The reason why all those introduction was given to us is for us to know that this man will eventually put Joseph in a prison. And that prison will be the prison where important officers and Pharaoh normally keep their prisoners. That's why the Bible gave us that introduction in the verse 1. And you know how the thing continued. Now what I want to make you see was when Joseph entered into prison. Sorry, before I entered into prison, look at the verse 2 of that verse 39 before I go to Joseph inside the prison. Look at this verse 2 of that chapter 39. The Bible says, "Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt," that's verse 1, "and Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord," listen, "the Lord was with Joseph and he was prosperous." The Lord was with Joseph and he was prosperous. The Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man. Are you getting something at all? Are you seeing something? The Lord was with Joseph and Joseph was a prosperous man. He was a prosperous man. Look at that. The Lord was with him and he was a prosperous man. You know what I'm trying to make you see? I'm trying to make you see what Jeremiah said. That in the year of drought, they will not be careful, and that even they will not cease from bearing fruit, they will remain ever green. [Jeremiah 17:8] Joseph was a slave. Yet the Bible says he was a prosperous man. It is the same thing you will find about Joseph when he was under when he was in prison. Look at the end of that chapter, verse 22 and 23. "And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's authority, because the Lord was with him. And whatsoever he did, the Lord made it prosper." Are you seeing it? Are you seeing that in our afflictions, in our challenges, in our tribulation, God is always with us. So when God says, "Fear not, I am with you. Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness." [Isaiah 41:10] I want you to know that it is real. God was with Joseph. Even in that affliction, he was a prosperous man. In the prison again, the Bible said God was with him. And he was yet a prosperous man. You can see that in the heat, in the storm, this man was still bearing fruit. It was also still inside that prison. that you notice something very, very important about Joseph. Still inside that prison. Now look at chapter 40, verse 6. The Bible says, "And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them and saw that they were sad. So he asked Pharaoh's officer, who were with him in the custody of the Lord's house, saying, 'Why do you look so sad today?' Why do you look so sad today? And they said to him, 'We each have had a dream and there is no interpreter of it.' So Joseph said to them, 'Do not interpretation belongs to God? Tell them to me, please.' Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph and then we know what happened. Joseph interpreted the dream and all of that." What am I trying to bring out? Don't forget what Apostle Paul said. He said, "Not only this, we rejoice in tribulation, knowing that tribulation is working out something in our life." [Romans 5:3] Don't forget what Apostle James said. He said, "Count it all joy when you fall into divers tribulation and trial, for the trial of your faith worketh patience." [James 1:2-3] Now look at what is happening here. Joseph was inside the prison. Please, if you look at the what happened to Joseph, the circumstances that brought him into this prison, who should be ready who should be awaiting encouragement? It should be Joseph that would be waiting for somebody to encourage him. Somebody to tell him that, "Don't worry, don't worry. Don't worry, God will take you out. Don't worry, see that you are innocent." Joseph was rejoicing in tribulation. I'm just trying to make you see that some of the things that you find in the New Testament, the shadows they were in the Old Testament. Men were going through serious affliction and they were busy comforting people. They were busy making way for people. They were busy ministering to people. They were busy reaching out to people. He was the one asking them, "Why are you sad?" You don't need to be sad. Oh, you have a dream? Come, let me interpret your dream for you. And I want to tell you, if Joseph was not busy rejoicing and serving God, what could have happened to him? He would not have left that prison. If Joseph was not busy rejoicing and serving God in that tribulation, in that suffering, he would have died in that prison. Because the way that God provided for him to get out of that prison is by rejoicing in hope. He needed to rejoice in hope. He needed to be serving the Lord. You will see that in Romans chapter 12. Look at that in Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. All of these biblical example, they are very, very, very, very important for us. Please, Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. I read verse 11 and verse 11 to 13. 11 to 13. Look at what the Bible says. He says, "Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit." Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. Are you seeing what the what the Bible is saying? We must learn to rejoice. It's very, very important for us as Christians. We must learn it. It's something we must learn, how to be patient in hope, and ability to do what? To rejoice in hope and patient in tribulation. Joseph was rejoicing, "There is a way out." And in tribulation, he was patient, and he was busy serving God. He was telling people, "You don't need to be discouraged. Cheer up, cheer up. Why are you sad? Rejoice. What's the problem? Oh you have a dream? Come let me interpret dream for you." He was a prisoner himself. And look at how the thing was turning. From being a son to being a slave, from being a slave to being a prisoner. Should such a man be rejoicing? Should such a man be telling people, "Why are you sad?" Should such a man be ministering to people? Such a man would have said, "Oh, God have abandoned me. God have forsaken me." But you can see that what the apostles, what they were telling us in the New Testament, what they were making us understand in the New Testament, they were already well recorded in the Old Testament. They are not new things. They are things the saints of old, they are things they did. It is the way they lived. That is the way to go. That is the way to go in our suffering, in our challenges, in our difficulty. That is why you notice what Apostle Paul said in Philippians. Look at Philippians. Philippians chapter 4. Look at the book of Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. Look at what the Bible says about Paul talking about our need to rejoice. Our need to rejoice. Look at Philippians chapter 4 in the verse 4. You see what the Bible says? Philippians chapter 4, verse 4. Look at what the Bible says here. The Bible says, "Rejoice in the Lord how? Always. Again, I say rejoice." Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. You will see that the people write Don't forget that this book was written amid the tribulation of and affliction of Paul. And Paul was writing to fellow Christians. He was telling them that what? They should rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. I want to ask you, how is this different from what Joseph was doing in prison? There is no difference. There is no difference because sometimes when we are reading the New Testament, we will be thinking that these people they are preaching a new gospel. No. They are not preaching a new gospel. You see the way the Spirit of Christ that were in the saints of old, the Spirit of Christ that was in them, because that's what the Bible make us to understand. That all of these heroes, they died in faith, looking towards the coming of Jesus. [Hebrews 11] They did not obtain the promise, they didn't obtain the resurrection, but they were waiting, they were waiting for that resurrection. That's why Joseph said, "Don't bury me in Egypt oh, carry my bone, carry my bone to the promised land." [Genesis 50:25] They knew that there is a better resurrection. They were waiting for something better to come. The Spirit of Christ in them, I'm trying to make you see how the Spirit of Christ operate. When you see men shattered, shattered, broken, entering into depression because of affliction, because of challenges, the underlining thing will be that they are not encountering the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ makes us to be able in the face of difficulties, in the face of challenges, in the face of affliction, in the face of adversity, you will see these people. You will see them and you'll be wondering what is the source of their joy. Like you'll be wondering in this place, what is the source of Joseph's joy. This joy that he was telling people, "Why are you sad? Why are you sad? Rejoice, what's the problem? Oh you have a dream? Come let me interpret dream for you." What was the source of that joy? It's not as if he was told that, "Look, Joseph, Joseph, go and interpret that dream for that man oh. Once you interpret it, that is your only way out oh because that man will be the one to tell Pharaoh." There was nothing like that. In fact, when the people were leaving prison and Joseph said, "Please, mention my case to Pharaoh," what happened to the man? The man forgot Joseph. [Genesis 40:23] Why again? Because God was working around his life. But I believe was saying something, a statement that blessed me so much. It's actually a prayer. But he was raising it based on that background of Joseph. That the butler forgot Joseph. He didn't remember Joseph. He only remembered Joseph when Pharaoh had a dream. [Genesis 41:9] And the prayer was that, "May people not remember you until your time." And honestly, that may look as if it's a curse. But it's not a curse. If that man remembered Joseph immediately when he left the prison, and he mentioned Joseph to Pharaoh, Pharaoh said, "Heh? So there is somebody there that got there by injustice. Okay, let's go and free him, let's go and free him." And they went and they freed Joseph. Joseph would start looking for how to start life as a prison mind you, he was a stranger and a slave, then a prisoner. Where will he start from? Number one, who want to employ prisoner? Number two, a prisoner that had a label that he raped his master's wife. Mind you, he was a foreigner in that land. I want you to imagine the suffering, the affliction, the tribulation that Joseph would have went through. That would have been more than him. And so he must remain where God have kept him in that one until his time. May you not be remembered until your time, in the name of Jesus Christ. Because if they remember you before your time, you may suffer further. That was the basis of that prayer that Boggle prayed. And honestly, it made a lot of sense to me, looking at the background to that prayer. And I have often prayed to God, and it make me not to struggle in life with things. When I am trying to get and looks as if everything is just working against it, honestly I just smile. I say, "Look, a better time is coming, a glorious one is coming." And as often as I have believed God that way, I have seen God work in a more glorious way. I can give you different instances in my life. God have always turned out to bring people, "Hey, thank God we did not take that first one." I pray for you, may men not remember you until your time and in your time may you bring forth fruit in the name of Jesus Christ. So you see that it was just the Spirit of Christ working in these people. It was the Spirit of Christ working in them, making them to rejoice in tribulation, making them to be glad in affliction, making them to rejoice. And honestly, if we if we look at that and we look at it, you will discover that, yea, honestly, that is the way to go. The second person I want to show us is David. That of David is a very long story but it's a summarized one that I should round it up in the next five, ten minutes. So that we can pray. Joseph of course David's story began from the book of 1 Samuel chapter 15 thereabout. Chapter 15, chapter 16, where God told Saul that he's going to the kingdom have been taken away from him, it will be given to his neighbor who is better than him. And that neighbor was to be David. And in chapter 16, we saw how Samuel went to anoint David. And when he anointed David, he anointed David as a young boy. David was not known at all. But Samuel anointed David, the Spirit of God came upon David in chapter 16. In chapter 17, David was to run errand for his father. And in running that errand for his father, he came he came across Goliath and the battle with Goliath introduced David to Israel. And before you knew it, Saul became envious of David because of the song, the song that was sang. Saul killed one thousand, David killed ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand. Praise God. Saul kill only one thousand. And as they are singing that song that David kill ten thousand, Saul kill only one thousand, Saul became envious of David. Sometimes, that is how men cause problems for our lives. It was men that caused the problem of Saul and David. Saul became envious. Why did they say David kill ten thousand and Saul kill one thousand? That was how Saul wanted to kill David. And the story continued like that. David became a vagabond, running here and there, Saul wanted to kill him. All of those things he went through. Eventually things went that way, things went this way. Everything there was affliction, there was suffering. But at the end of the day, look at how David summarize the life of a godly man. Psalm let's go to Psalm 37. Psalm 37. Look at how David summarize the life of a godly person. Psalm 37. Psalm 37. I read from verse our our actual scripture is verse 37, but I want to read from verse 34. From verse 34. Look at how the psalmist puts the story. He said, "Wait on the Lord and keep his way. He shall exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away and behold he was no more. Indeed, I sought him but he could not be found." But what do you see about the godly person? What did the Bible say? "Mark the blameless man. Observe the upright man. For the future of that man is peace." Do you see how the Bible puts it? I put it again in KJV. "Mark the perfect man. Behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." You see how the psalmist put it again. The wicked may prosper one way or the other. The righteous may be in different affliction. Look at how David became a vagabond running here and there, Saul wanted to kill him, all of those things he went through. Eventually things went that way, things went this way. Everything there was affliction, there was suffering. But at the end of the day, look at what the psalmist have to tell us. He said, "Look, go and mark, go and mark the perfect man. Go and behold the upright man. The end of that man is always peace." You need to understand that David came to give us a summary that it doesn't matter how it turns and turns and turns and turns. It doesn't matter how things look at the beginning. It doesn't matter how things look at the midway. It doesn't matter how they look. It doesn't really matter. The reality is that as long as you are a upright person, as long as you are a godly person, your end shall be peace. I pray for you today, everyone listening to me. I pray for you. I pray for you. Particularly those of you who have taken time to diligently follow the Lord, and it looks as if things are just challenging. It looks as if ah, why is it like this? It looks as if I pray for you wherever you are. I ask the Lord concerning you. I speak the word of the Lord. Your end shall be peace. Your end shall be peace. Your end shall be peace. Your end shall be peace. In the name of Jesus Christ. Let's close the meeting for today. We have come to the final end of heat and drought of human life. And I believe that in different ways the Lord have instructed our heart on this teaching making us to see diverse things and several things about heat and droughts of life. And I believe that one way or the other God will have spoken to you and touched your attitude, your perspective about this matter. Wherever you are right now, whatsoever you have learned from the whole of this lesson begin to talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Talk to him. Mutter prayer to the Lord. The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much. Speak to him. The Bible says he who asks receives. Unto him who knock it will be opened. And he who seek will find. Ask so that you can receive. Ask, ask, ask. Our Father, we thank you for today. Our God, we give you praise. Our God, we worship you. We bless your holy name. We thank you for all who you are and all that you have. Father, we pray this evening that Lord, Lord, more and more and more, help us to walk with you in the light of your word, in the name of Jesus. Help us to do what you say. Help us to go where you send so that our joy can be full, in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace together in fellowship. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever more. Amen. [Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and marriage through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday 5:00 p.m., adolescent and singles' club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m. Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m., family life seminars, regular school outreaches and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Rejoice filling station along Ije road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles, familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.