Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.scalpay.freechurch.org/sermons/2102/god-our-king/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Judges chapter 15 we read from verse 18 he was sore of thirst and called on the Lord and said thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant and now shall I die for thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised but God clave and hollow place that was in the jaw and there came water there out and when he had drunk his spirit came again and he revived wherefore he called the name thereof En-Hakor which is in Lehi unto this day and he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years the book of Judges is not a happy book it begins with the death of Joshua, God's faithful servant and it ends in the blood and slaughter of an Israelite civil war nearly 400 years later from the outset the Israelites are driven by their desire for an easy life rather than a faithful one and as a result of taking what they think will be the easy way they heap up more and more difficulties for themselves when they come out at the end of the book of Joshua beginning of the book of Judges they are given the promised land with the clear instruction to make it a holy land purged and purified of idolatry and false gods and those who worship them and whilst the Israelites are quite happy to do as much killing and slaughtering as is convenient for them they find it's a lot less hassle in the short term to just grab as much land as you can drive out the inhabitants from the bits you want but generally settle down and then let them live round about you having gained what they wanted by conquest which they foolishly ascribed to their own strength they settled for a measure of material wealth and comfort rather than the rigor of a religious duty to create a purified and holy land and of course they reap the bitter fruit of that in Judges 2 we read in verses 12 to 14 first of all they forsook the Lord God of their fathers which brought them out of the land of Egypt and followed other gods of the gods of the people that were round about them and bowed themselves unto them and provoked the Lord to anger and they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtoreth and the anger of the Lord was hawked against Israel and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies now you see what's happening first of all here it is the gods of the Assyrians or the Babylonians or the Egyptians that they're falling into snares with here it's the gods of the peoples round about because they didn't cleanse them out because they didn't clear the land of idolatry and of false worship and of false gods they allowed it to settle round about near them and as a result they began to infect them and they began to serve these other gods because they didn't do what was required of them it was these very nations round about that then became a snare to them and the anger of the Lord was hot against them and he said spoilers so they were delivered into the hands of their enemies round about it's their immediate neighbours neighbours all the nations the heathen nations round about and they didn't clear off the land that now become a snare and a problem and a difficulty to them and then we read in verse 18 of chapter 2 and when the Lord raised them up judges then the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge for they repented the Lord because of their groanings

[4:01] by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them and it came to pass when the judge was dead that they returned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and to bow down unto them they ceased not from their own doings nor from their stubborn way and the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he said because of this people in his west my covenant which I commanded their fathers have not harkened to my voice I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died that through them I may prove Israel whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein as their fathers did keep it or not therefore the Lord left those nations without driving them out eastly neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua so because they don't do their duty they are left with these temptations and snares and so the Lord says well that's what you want fine I'll leave you with exactly what you desire and we'll see whether you serve the Lord or whether you don't so we see a recurring theme throughout these four centuries of the judges disobedience then defeat and distress and then in due course the Lord raises up a judge to deliver

[5:20] Israel and for a while they return to the Lord and the land has rest then they get comfortable they get complacent they drift away from the Lord and the whole cycle begins again it is a solemn reality whether it's then or now that power belongs to the Lord power belongs to the Lord not to us anyone who has been able to do great things for the Lord in the past or in the present it's simply because the Lord has given them the strength and the power power belongs to the Lord and that weakness will always be the portion of his people when they abandon them over the course of these four centuries of the judges if you count them you will see that the Lord raises up twelve judges who rule and judge for various lengths of time twelve is sometimes taken in scripture to be the number of government and if you think about your twelve tribes of Israel twelve apostles and so on twelve foundations of the holy city and so on as we see in Revelation so these twelve judges and if you work your way through you'll see these are

[6:31] Ophniel Ehud Shamgar Deborah the prophetess Gideon Tola Jer Jephthah Iblion Elon Abdon and finally Samson the twelfth and last each of these judges was able to deliver Israel for a certain amount of time some of them there's more stories told about them than others some are just a couple of lines but they're each able to deliver Israel for one reason and one reason only chapter 2 verse 18 this is what we read when the Lord raised them up judges then the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judgment the Lord was with the judge Samson is unique amongst the judges not least because the Lord goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure that his very conception and birth are from a state of Nazarite purity the Nazarites were those who were set apart to the Lord they would take certain vows usually for a temporary period of time a man for example might swear he would never cut his hair for the length of his vow whether it was three months or six months whether it was one month whatever it might be he wouldn't drink wine during that time and so on so a Nazarite was set apart in purity he devoted himself for a time to the Lord and we see in chapter 13 and so on onwards how when

[8:00] Samson's mother is visited by the angel of the Lord then she is told don't you drink any wine or eat any grapes or eat anything that's defiled in any way because you're about to conceive another child and not only must the child from birth be brought up as a Nazarite but even in the womb he mustn't be defiled by anything that you might eat so there's this setting apart in purity Nazarite purity without any refilement of any kind and this is stipulated as a condition for Samson's own life that he is never to cut his hair nor to drink any kind of alcohol now obviously there is no magic formula in either long hair or teetotalism which would have themselves endowed Samson with such superhuman strength rather it is the gift of God power belongs to the Lord and so when God gives Samson such superhuman strength it is a gift of God from which Samson continues to benefit for as long as he keeps faith with what the Lord requires of him and what the Lord requires of him is that he doesn't cut his hair and he doesn't drink any wine or any alcohol at all he doesn't actually specify and by the way you've got to lead a chaste and godly life and you've got to keep yourself the one woman your whole life and so on he doesn't specify that and this is

[9:28] Samson's particular weakness as we will see he is also unusual in that whilst many of the judges are sent by the Lord in direct response to the cry of the people and we find that if you go through the book and the judges you find for example chapter 3 verse 9 when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel who delivered them off the other son of Canaan chapter 3 verse 15 when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord the Lord raised him up a deliverer Ehud the son of Gera likewise in chapter 4 verse 3 the children of Israel cried unto the Lord when they were oppressed by Javan the king of the Canaanites chapter 6 and verse 7 it came to pass when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the many nights the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel and so on in this instance however despite the long oppression of the Philistines the Lord does not wait to be asked he just gives freely

[10:36] Samson is God's gift to the suffering Israelites to that extent he points us to Christ now we can't get too much hung up and say oh well Samson is a free figure of Christ in this respect he is in so far as he is God's gift to his people Samson takes on the Philistines in a way that nobody else had done before him he gives the Israelites you might say hope that maybe they can be attacked maybe they can be beaten whereas previously they just assumed there was no hope at all but Samson and Jesus are not alike in any other respect nor should we imagine that they are but in the instance of being God's gift to his people he points us to Christ for the Lord did not wait for us to come to him he did not wait for us to call out to him but rather we read in Romans 5 verse 8 God commended his love to us and that while we were yet sinners

[11:36] Christ died for us but there the similarity ends Samson may have had superhuman strength but he had at least one fearful human weakness yet even that could be and was used of the Lord for what his purposes intended the Lord was never with Samson going to conclude or complete the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines but he was going to begin that is what we read when Samson is going to be conceived the angel says to his mother chapter 13 at verse 5 for lo thou shalt conceive and bear a son no razor shall come on his head for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines Philistines oppressed the Israelites for 40 years that's what we read chapter 13 verse 1 the Israelites were oppressed by the

[12:36] Philistines 40 years and since in the end they succeeded in capturing Samson and he died as their prisoner Samson's 20 years of judging the children of Israel as we see at the end of the chapter that we read there chapter 15 verse 20 there must have been in the midst of the Philistine years you know in the days of the Philistines whilst the Philistines were still oppressing the Israelites whilst they still ruled over them Samson exercised almost an internal judging and leading of the children of Israel in the midst of the Philistine years which was still going on when Samson died in a nutshell the Lord permitted Samson's fatal weakness for women to become the means of challenging the Philistine oppression if we go back to chapter 14 when Samson is if you like fooled out of his wedding present and he is deceived by his wife who then tells the

[13:39] Philistine men about his riddle we read at chapter 14 verse 19 the spirit of the Lord came upon him and he went down to Ashkelon and slew thirty men of them and took their spoil and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle and his anger was kindled and he went up to his father's house now that is the first recorded attack by an Israelite upon the Philistines although you could say the motivation was personal it wasn't political he wasn't trying to raise up a standard for the Israelites to follow he was just getting his own back on the Philistines they had deceived him so he took it out of them but still to be able to kill thirty Philistine men without any comeback would be a major embarrassment to Philistine rule the destroying of their entire harvest that we read about in chapter fifteen here that we read and that would have taken some time to plan you don't just go out and catch three hundred foxes like you might catch a few mice or rats or whatever foxes don't tend to move in herds like wolves or whatever do foxes tend to be individual creatures so when you've caught three hundred you must be keeping them all somewhere you must catch one here and one there and so on and keep them penned up somewhere you probably have to feed them as well to keep them going until you catch three hundred that's going to take time even for somebody of

[15:07] Samson's strength you've really got to plan this you've got to really want to do this catch three hundred foxes and then you tie them tail to tail and stick a burning firebrand and you have 150 pairs 300 foxes 150 pairs and then you set them and look now the poor animals must have been absolutely terrified when this fire burning their tail desperately trying to get away both of them tied to each other trying to get away running into the standing corn on the first side you know what's going to happen if you see what happens there all the stakes are piled up all the shocks all the fields they go in amongst the vineyards they go everywhere you can just imagine the whole countryside must have been a blaze from one end to the other it must have been a terrifying prospect it would have been burning all night people would have seen the hillsides lit up with this blaze land would have an absolutely scorched black after it plus the prospect of famine because all the harvest is gone this would have been a terrifying situation both for the philistines and for anybody who witnessed it it reads almost as though it's just something you did it was the work of five minutes he got the hundred boxes sent them into the fields this would be a long time planning it would be a major terrifying conflagration and it would have absolutely scared the woods out of anybody that saw it would have filled the whole countryside with fire blazing day and night everything destroyed so they take some of them and say why did he do this he did this because his father-in-law gave his wife to somebody else right we'll take it out and then they burned everything up with fire we burned them with fire and so the tit for tant killings begin you might think oh that's terrible that's awful because you know we're meant to turn the other cheek that so far in the old testament what the lord is doing is he's seeking to encourage his people and show them that evil will not always triumph and evil will be stopped in its tracks when it is resisted by the judge whom the lord raises up this is god's way of doing things under the old dispensation god's way of doing things now under the gospel is different but at that time samson is hitting back and this is the thing the philistines have ruled for so many years without anybody saying who to them now one man has killed 30 philistines without any kind of answer he has destroyed their entire crop one man and if you were the philistines you're thinking well maybe he has got super human strength but still only one guy what about if the whole country rolls up against us they've got to do something about it so they come seeking him after they killed his wife and his father-in-law he then smoked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter that's what we read of samson said though you've done this yet will I be avenged of you and after that I will cease he smoked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter went down and dwelt in the top of the rock so they gather round to capture him they are determined to take him then when he consents to be handed over to them he kills another thousand with the jawbone of an ass now the jawbone of an ass is a main weapon it's not like a wee chicken bone or something you know do you think of how big and strong a donkey is and this is a new jawbone of an ass so this donkey has obviously just collapsed out of the open underneath its load which often happens sadly in lands that don't care for their animals well it was used to collapse and as it died the air tonner would have taken off the burn and put it on another beast or carried it and just left it there now of course in that kind of climate situation all the vultures and all the carrying feeding creatures would have picked it clean pretty quick

[19:08] but we're told it's the new jawbone of an ass so this isn't a mouldy old bone that's beginning to sort of fester away so this is new it's been picked clean by all the creatures of the field and that is a strong large bone with teeth still in it the jawbone of an ass it'd be sort of like the bone equivalent of taking a wrench from a mechanics toolbox some adjustable spanner wrench and taking that out and beginning to hit people with it now if you get clobbered with one of these things with enough force either that's going to kill you or knock you out or it's going to do enough damage that you'll be helpless and easily killed thereafter and in the hand of somebody with as much superhuman strength as Samson killing a thousand Philistines it wouldn't be easy but it's perfectly doable especially if they're on the top of a rock and some get knocked off by others falling against them and so a thousand men he kills this has never been done before this is unique this is breaking news the Philistines have never been challenged we are so used mentally to thinking oh yeah the

[20:18] Philistines and the Israelites and Saul fought the Philistines and they killed him and David fought the Philistines and he killed Goliath and then David fought the Philistines again and battles between the Israelites and the Philistines are always going on and yes they were but that was later to begin with the Philistines came out from the coast they took over the five cities hence the five lords of the Philistines Gaza Gath Ashgeron Ekron Ashdod the other one is a bigger part you can see these if you've got a map at the back of your Bible you can see these five places listed near the coast of the holy land there and they moved in from the coast and as they moved in from the coast they came into conflict with the Israelites occupying the farm land and the higher ground and to begin with the Philistines ruled the roost 40 years they ruled over them and then finally these lights begin to hit back but they only begin to hit back with Samson and they only begin to hit back because

[21:18] Samson is beginning superhuman strength and so this jawbone of the ass he kills a thousand men with and he names the place Ramach Lehi which means either the lifting up of the jawbone or alternatively the casting away of the jawbone because it says he cast away the jawbone out of his hand and called the place Ramach Lehi it's all great as far as it goes but if now he's going to collapse from thirst and dehydration then what use was it this is the context of his cry to the Lord at verse 18 he was sore of thirst and called on the Lord and said thou hast given this great deliverance in the hand of thy son and now shall I die for thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised you see it's like what we're talking about before you can do great deliverances and you can win great battles and you can do great things and the Lord can help you with this this this and this but then it's done and there's the next thing there's the next problem and the problem now is not that 3,000 philistines are coming against him the problem is not that he's being handed over and taken prisoner having to fight his way out the problem is not how many he's got to kill the problem is he's about to die of thirst he is absolutely exhausted he is worn out in a hot country like

[22:43] Palestine engaged in battle killing a thousand people doesn't happen quickly you'd have to be most of the day at it so virtually all day he's been fighting for his life killing a thousand philistines now he's dehydrated now he's going to die of thirst there's no water there on the rocky time and so what does he do he called on the Lord and said thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant and now shall I die for thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised great victory great blessing but now the next problem the next thing the next crisis this is the context of his cry to the Lord you and I know that whatever the Lord may enable us to do however much he may bless us from day to day in the past there's always the next day the next problem the next meal to be thought of the next bill to pay the next crisis the next thing just around the corner we can't say well thanks Lord that was great

[23:45] I really appreciate how much you've helped me but now I'll be okay on my own from now on no you won't because the next problem is just around the corner the next difficulty is just the next day maybe this day the next difficulty the next challenge the next crisis it's right there no matter what age or aspect of life we are dealing with success or blessing suffering of hardship barely got through there is always the next problem there is always the next crisis if the Lord doesn't help us with that one then all the previous ones lose any benefit killing a thousand Philistines great but now they're going to see that he's dehydrated they're going to see that he's weak he's about to collapse they'll come back they'll capture simple as that easy if he doesn't have water so he cries to the Lord and God clave a hollow place that was in the jaw and there came water that and when he had drunk his spirit came again and he revived wherefore he called the name called the name which is in me

[24:49] I unto this day the well of him that cried in that's what it means all the meals you ever ate in the past are no help if you're starving now today all the water you ever drank does you no good now if you're dying of thirst in the present it's no use for an angel to appear and say to Samson well remember how when you were a wee boy and you were thirsty your mum took you to the cistern and you drank yourself insensitive there you were absolutely fit the bush you drank so much water oh didn't I help you then that was great that was lovely thank you Lord but that was ages ago this is what I eat now this is my problem now this is my crisis now I'm dying of thirst all the water I drank there it doesn't help me now all the meals I ate in the past it doesn't help me now if I'm starving today all the good things you may have enjoyed they were great they were wonderful you thanked the Lord for them all but they can't help you now it will have been of benefit to you only in so far as you can keep building on it the good the Lord does it you thank him you receive and you build for the next stage the next day the next problem the next thing to be done the manna was needed every day in the wilderness the victory over the

[26:09] Philistines was great but it's done and now it will all be undone and Samson will die of thirst and dehydration unless the Lord helps him but unlike the Israelites in the desert Samson doesn't murmur or grumble against the Lord he cries at him and calls upon him in prayer this is what he ought to do and he was right to do it he took it straight to the Lord and he got an answer straight back Samson acknowledges the Lord's goodness in the past before he asks for help in the present and he doesn't feel guilty about asking see sometimes you know we go to the Lord and think well you know

[27:19] Lord I know I asked for such and such and you gave me that and thank you but now I need this and we sort of feel you know as if we're pestering the Lord as if you know we shouldn't have to ask for this now you know I can't ask him for this thing that I need now you know Samson didn't feel guilty about asking he asked and it shall be given take it to the Lord that's what we're meant to do he doesn't feel guilty about asking God's desire is not to keep us at arm's length and to beg for every crumb every minute but his delight is to richly supply all our needs as we ask them in faith take it to the Lord as Samson did ask and it shall be given don't go thinking well I can't ask for this because I asked for something else yesterday oh I asked for my lunch yesterday and the Lord gave me it so I can't possibly ask for my tea now today yes you can when Jesus teaches in the sand on the mount when he encourages people to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness it's not because he says ah no whether being hungry or thirsty if you're really strict you'll rise above these things no he says don't obsess with these things because your heavenly father knoweth that you have needed these things look at how he cares for the spams the lilies of the field the birds of the air you're worth much more than them

[28:46] God knows that you have need of these things he knows the difference between need and just vanity and luxury he knows the difference between selfish indulgence indulgence and strict need so he knows when we come asking for what we need and he wants us to ask he wants us to ask in faith take it to the Lord as Samson did and the only thing I can't possibly ask because I asked for something else yesterday and the Lord gave him he's going to think I'm nagging him he's going to think I'm pestering no he isn't the Lord loves his children this is today this is another day another need another opportunity of prayer to ask that we may receive and that our joy may be full that's what Jesus taught his disciples to do ask that you may receive that your joy may be full because you will have more joy the more that you recognise first of all how good God has been to you in the past like Samson does here secondly that he encourages us to ask thirdly that when we receive we give the glory and the thanksgiving to the

[29:54] Lord and all of this increases our joy and it also encourages us to recognise well whenever we ask the Lord supplies he knows our need don't be afraid to go back to him again you build your relationship with the Lord if you're in business and maybe perhaps your business requires somebody to supply you and say so many boxes so many hundred boxes for your business and you go on and say well I'd like to purchase say two hundred boxes for my business say sure no problem there's the boxes here's the pay and that's it and if you go back and say well I've used all those boxes at night I'd like to order two hundred more and say oh not again what are you doing back here for goodness sake we gave you two hundred boxes you say that's no problem here another two hundred boxes here's the money right there we go you're building up a business relationship now the Lord we're not doing business with him in that sense but we are building a relationship of trust of recognizing that his desire his delight is to help us to supply our need our part is to go to him to trust him to believe in him to recognize him as our loving father not just for our sakes but because it glorifies him to supply our need

[31:12] God is glorified in Samson's victories God is glorified that Samson is refreshed out of nowhere unable to get up and go on with whatever the Lord has for him this is today it's another day it's another need another opportunity for prayer to ask that we may receive that our joy may be full that our victories be not lost stay with him stay with the Lord and keep your steady flow of requests season with thanksgiving and praise this is what we are taught isn't it in the philippians chapter 4 verse 6 be careful that means full of care for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God that's what Paul teaches the philippines that's what Samson is doing here in the judges there is always going to be the next problem always the next crisis always the need to take it to the Lord this is the cry of faith and the

[32:20] Lord delights to answer such cries in hakor it is the well of him that cried and it sprang up miraculously in answer to his cry his prayer was answered and he was refreshed he was revived and he picked up and went on with whatever the Lord had for him next you see during all the long years of the judges the key to Israel's chaotic disintegration scattered political weakness and regular oppressive invasions by foreign powers lay not in the absence of any earthly kingship or figurehead human kingship was in some ways like the law you know Galatians chapter 3 and 19 we read wherefore then served the law it was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator ideally the law wouldn't have been needed but it was needed it was added because of transgressions like Jesus said to the

[33:35] Jews when they said oh but it's okay just to divorce your wife whatever you like that Moses said we could just write a book of divorce Jesus answered and said for the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female and so on so in other words law is added because of our imperfection just like kingship is introduced to the Israelites because it was a sorrowful necessity the last resort of restraint and forced obedience instead of the anarchy that had prevailed for centuries in that abiding in unity instead of a band of loosely scattered tribes who only came together in times of crisis monarchy was never going to be a cure for all Israel's evils and experience would prove not surprisingly that Israel's kingdom would only ever be as good or as pure or as strong or as powerful as the king himself if the king was weak or sinful or corrupt and the king of itself became likewise corrupted and weak the kingdom was strong when the king was faithful but that was only ever going to be a hit or amiss which is one reason why

[34:49] Samuel was so displeased when the Israelites first asked for a king after 400 years of judges we read in 1st Samuel chapter 8 at verse 7 the Lord said unto Samuel hearken unto the voice of the people the thing that they sought displeased Samuel when they said give us a king to judges and Samuel prayed unto the Lord the Lord said to Samuel hearken unto the voice of the people and all that they say unto thee for they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them we think well come on that's not what was happening before God wasn't reigning in the land it was anarchy it was sin it was brutality the whole thing was just going awful but Samuel spells it out a bit more clearly a couple of chapters further on he says in chapter 12 verse 12 of 1st Samuel he says when you saw that Nehash the king of the children of Ammon came against you he said nay but a king shall reign over us when the

[35:50] Lord your God was your king the Lord was meant to have been your king all these years the Lord was meant to be the one who would reign over you you needed kingship in the end because things had come to such a sorry pass and it's in this context the context of what Samuel puts his finger on and says you're asking for a king now because of this latest threat but the Lord was your king he was the one that ought to reign over you and it's in this context that we read throughout repeatedly throughout the book of Judges chapter 17 verse 6 in those days there was no king in Israel but every man did that which was right in his own eyes chapter 18 verse 1 in those days there was no king in Israel chapter 19 verse 1 came to pass in those days when there was no king in Israel and the very last verse of the book of Judges chapter 21 verse 25 in those days there was no king in Israel every man did that which was right in his own eyes it doesn't mean simply

[36:58] Saul hadn't arrived yet or David wasn't on the throne it means the Lord who was meant to have been their king they had rejected him because they didn't have the Lord as their king they had no king everybody just did what was right in his own eyes if the Lord does not move over you lead you guide you fight your battles protect you from your enemies if he is not doing that because he is not your king because you have no king then you are truly being on your own for now and for eternity for the wheel will turn the enemy will come back if he is not wrecking your life already he will come perhaps after a long period of peace by which time you may be grown soft and warm on the outside hard and cold on the inside out of the way of seeking the Lord and suddenly you find yourself vulnerable helpless alone like the

[37:59] Israelites did learn from them not just from their mistakes not just from their judges but from their response in time of trouble as we mentioned earlier so often when the Lord sent them a judge it was because they had cried to the Lord chapter 3 verse 9 we mentioned how they cried to the Lord when the children of Israel cried to the Lord he raised up and delivered a great victory and then they oppressed forty years and then we read chapter 3 verse 15 when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord the Lord raised him up and delivered another great victory they have rest forty years then it's the Ammonites in chapter six verse seven it's the Canaanites that come in and it came to pass when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites they get a warning from that prophet or angel then a great victory then they rest forty years then it's the Ammonites and we read in chapter ten likewise of how they're finally coming to their senses chapter 10 verse 10 the children of

[38:59] Israel cried to the Lord say we have sinned against thee both because we have forsaken our God and also served Balaam and at chapter 10 verse 15 the children of Israel said to the Lord we have sinned do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee deliver us only we pray thee this day learn from the Israelites learn from the judges there is always going to be another crisis always going to be the next problem one thing after another they cry to the Lord he delivers they cry to the Lord he delivers you're getting the picture they realize that when they come to him he delivers them we have to learn from them there's always going to be another crisis there's always going to be the next battle you don't want to be dragging yourself backwards and forwards to the throne of grace to his footstool asking for this thing and then the next thing and then going back and then going back and then asking for the next thing just dwell there just stay there just be at his footstool just have him always as your king not a temporary fix but an eternal father

[40:11] Jesus said ask and it shall be given you seek and you shall find not in it shall be opened unto you God understands your needs better than you know them yourself your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of these things this is what we have here in this cry he was sore athirst and called on the Lord and said thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant now will I die for thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised but God claimed a hollow place that was in the jaw and there came water there out to when he had drunk his spirit came again and he revived wherefore he called the name thereof Enhachor which is in Levi unto this day Enhachor the well of him that cried now Jesus says in John chapter 7 verse 37 and in that last day the great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me as the scriptures hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water this is stake of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the holy ghost was not yet given you say ah well he's talking spiritual he doesn't mean meeting our practical needs yes he does as well it's body and soul it's physical and spiritual because you are both you are body and soul you have physical daily earthly needs and you have spiritual eternal needs the Lord desires to meet them all if any man thirst let him come to me says Jesus that's what he says to the woman at the well of Semenia if anybody drinks this water he's going to be thirsty again but if he drinks the water

[41:54]  I will give to him you'll never thirst again you stay at the throne of grace you stay at the Lord's good still you stay with him as your king it is an inexhaustible resource an ongoing supply physical and spiritual because you are both body and soul and he knows your needs and he stands ready to meet those needs and to satisfy you so but you must be his learn from the judges learn from the Israelites since the Lord was not their king they had no king but they should have done they should have done and so should you let's pray let's pray then take come and can