We shall read together in the first book of Samuel. And in chapter five, I'm reading at verse seven. And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, the ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon, our God. Now, chapter six, verse nineteen. And the men of Kirjath-jearim came and fetched up the ark of the Lord and brought it unto the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. It came to pass while the ark abhorred in Kirjath-girim that the time was long, for it was twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, if ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Now over to chapter eleven, And verse one. then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, on this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. Now twenty two, chapter twenty two. And verse one, David therefore departed thence and escaped to the cave of Dullum. And when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. And everyone that was in distress, and everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented gathered themselves unto him, and he became a captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. Now, a last reading in chapter twenty three and verse eleven. Sorry, verse twelve. Then said David, will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, they will deliver thee up. Do you know, I was thinking about, eh, the the the meeting tonight, and I think you'll agree there are times in our experience when, because of the conditions of the day and the age we're living in, that you would sometimes look around and just wonder exactly what the future holds for the people of God, and how we might serve God in this particular age and generation, and if there's anything in the word of God that would help us in this particular day to understand some of the principles of scripture that might help us just to be more faithful for God. Now, First Samuel is really such a book, because if you look at it dispensationally, then there are two truths that would link you immediately with the days in which we're living. The Ark of God was taken from the sanctuary and taken outside of the place which denoted the presence of God. And the true king, i.e. David, was anointed and yet not on the throne. Now, if you turn to the third and fourth of Revelation, you'll discover this, that the Lord is on the outside in Laodicea. That's chapter three. And then you come to chapter four, and the king is established on heaven, but not yet manifest on earth. So therefore, in the first book of Samuel, you have dispensationally a picture of the days in which we're living. The Lord is on the outside, and the king is not yet established. Now, what type of things prevail in that day? Well, first of all, in chapter one you'll discover this, that there's a man called Elkanah, and this man is going up yearly to worship. And you might immediately think, well, there's a commendable feature, but no. Says God this. Thrice a year the males shall appear before the Lord. And yet, despite the fact that the Lord commanded the males to appear three times a year, this man and his house were coming once a year. So the book that dispensationally reflects the days in which we're living starts off like this, with a man who was obedient to God, albeit partially. So the book begins with partial obedience. And then secondly, the chapter suggests to us the thought of troubled homes. For there is in the household, at least of Elkanah, albeit possibly not in the same house, two women. And in this particular environment, the fleshly woman, Peninnah, is afflicting the spiritual woman, Hannah. And so you have partial obedience in the man and difficulty in the domestic sphere. And then you go to the priesthood, and Eli is the priest, and he's a fat man. And that would bring before us the thought of lethargy and laziness and lack of exercise and inaction. And the priestly work, which was a work which demanded application and energy and diligence had fallen into the hand of a man that was lazy and fat and really out of touch with God. And so you have partial obedience and difficulty in the domestic sphere and lethargy in the priesthood. And you say, well, what about succession? What about the future? We discover this, that the sons of the priests were firstly taking out their portion out of the pot, and once they had taken their portion, they then left the remainder, or the dregs, to be offered on the altar for God. And so you can see that First Samuel very much reflects the days in which we live, and as if that wasn't bad enough, the enemy comes in amongst the people of God and takes that very thing that denoted the presence of God. They took the ark, and they took the thing that was marking the presence of God, and they took it out of the sphere of sovereign choice and sought to place it in a hostile environment. That's the background. But I want to speak to you tonight on what I would call the unnamed men of First Samuel. You see, you might think, well, what, what influence can I apply? What influence can I be? What, what effect can I have in these dark days? I'm not particularly famous, and maybe my particular gift is limited. But, you know, over and over again in this book, there were men whose names we will never know. They weren't marked by any outstanding gift. They weren't marked by any particular famous act, but nevertheless, the Holy Spirit of God hid their names, but showed us this, that every individual who contributes anything in that dark, strange day will be noted and registered by the Spirit of God. And irrespective of who we are, if we move at all in the sphere where God's place is or God's people are, then whether positively or negatively, whether known or unknown, we will have an effect in these difficult and dark days. And so there are six men in First Samuel, the men of Ashdod, the men of Beth Shemesh, the men of Kirjath-Jerem, the men of Jabesh, the men of David, the men of Keilah. Now it's interesting that each of these men are divi- or the men, should I say, overall are divided into two categories. The men of Ashdod and the men of Beth-Shemesh and the men of Kirjath-Jerem form the first group. And the men of Jabesh and David's men and the men of Keilah form the second group. With respect to the first group, they are the men who cons- who are concerned with the ark. And with respect to the second group, they are the men that are concerned or associated with the enemy. Men and the ark, and men and the enemy. And each of them will provide for our souls a particular lesson in a day of departure. Now, with respect to the men of Ashdod, you'll notice this, that the men of Ashdod took the ark of God and they brought it into the house of Dagon, the Philistine god. And we discover from these men this principle, that when they brought the ark into the house of Dagon, in first Samuel five, Dagon, the Philistine god, fell at the feet of the ark. We discover this, that the ark of the God of Israel will not abide with us. In other words, this, the ark and the idol cannot exist together. Now, you'll notice in your Bible that over and over and over again, the people of God are plagued by the idol. You come to Genesis chapter 35, and you'll notice the idol in the home. You come to Exodus, I think it's chapter twenty, and you'll notice the idol on the journey. And then you come to Daniel and chapter three, and you notice the idol in the land, in the home, on the journey, in the land. You know, Jacob loved Rachel, and he married her, and Rachel, his wife, brought into Jacob's home idols from her father's house. Idols which should never have been there. And then, you see, when her father sought for the idols, she hid them and lied as to their existence. Idols in the home. And the people of God are going through the j- through the wilderness, and they build the calf, idols in the journey. And then Nebuchadnezzar built a great idol, idols in the land. Now, each of these three things will teach us a lesson. When Jacob comes to Bethel, he says this, put away the strange gods. You see, when a man returns in his soul to the house of God, Bethel, to the place where God dwells, and desires again to get back in touch with God, the idol has to go. Because the idol in the home will prevent us from a deeper relationship with God. But then secondly, what about the idol in the journey? Well, you know yourself that the idol in the journey in the wilderness was made from gold. That was gold that was taken from the land of Egypt, and it was used to construct the idol. And you remember when the idol was melted, it was commanded that the people should drink it because gold that was taken from Egypt and given effectively to the idol was no longer of use to God and could never again be used to construct the sanctuary. You know, people will say very liberally in ministry, God is always the God of the second chance. Not always. There are times when there's no second chance, and the gold that we waste on the idol in the journey will never again be recoverable for God. And so they melted it down and they drunk it, and all that gold that could have been used for the sanctuary was forever wasted as far as divine things were concerned, because they said, where is this Moses? We don't know what has become of him. And in a day of impatience, they moved with impetuosity and took the gold that belonged to the Lord to construct something that was an idol. But then what about the idol in the land? Remember in Daniel chapter three, I think it is, the young men are given a command to bow to the idol. And the extent of the resolve, I've only ever heard one brother preach on this, but it's a great verse. The three men stood before the king, he said this. Be it known unto thee, O king, sorry, the the God whom we serve is able to deliver us. But if not, if per chance we have to die in this furnace, be it known unto thee, O king, we will not bow down to thy gods. And so, confronted with the greatest challenge of life, and even aware of the fact that God might not just answer their prayer in the way that they wanted him to answer it. They said this, whatever it is, whatever the consequences, we are not bowing down to the idol. Isn't it interesting that it's ungodly men that have to instruct us in this dark day of chapter five? The ark of the God of Israel will not abide with us. In other words, there will be not such a thing as a heart which loves God and a heart which is attached to the island, whether that be in the land or in the journey or in the home. There will not be such a thing as an affection divided that will give honor and glory to God. But even in First Samuel chapter six, this time it's not the men of Ashdod, this time it's the men of Beth Shemesh. And the sad thing is this, is that the Ark of God was constructed with hooks for staves. That was how it should be carried. And the sad thing was this, is that the thing that was so significant as far as the presence of God was concerned, says the Word of God, they took that and they carried the testimony on a cart. That was never the divine mind, that the testimony of God should be carried upon a cart. But more, says the word of God, they lifted the lid of the ark and they looked in, and God smote them. Now, I've heard it suggested that that spoke of irreverence, but I don't think it's that at all. I think it's this. When they lifted the lid of that ark, inside that ark there was the unbroken tables of the covenant, the unbroken tables of the law. I say this to you, there was only one man that could look into an unbroken law and stand, and that was Christ. But when they did, the unbroken law condemned them in the flesh, and they died for looking into the unbroken law of God. Thank God there was one man who meditated in that law day and night. And he said when he came in Matthew five, I am not come to destroy it, but to fill it up. And he fulfilled the law in every detail, both in dictate and in motive. And it behoves us in these days to be encouraged by one who looked into the law of God and stood uncondemned because of the righteousness of his holy character. And then they ask this, who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? And Psalm twenty four answers it. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity or sworn, sworn deceitfully, this man shall stand before the Lord. But then third of the most men of Kirjath hear them, and says the word of God, they, they, they, they were also attached to the yard, not now like the men of Ashdod, and not now like the men of Beth Shemesh, but says the word of God, they fetched it up. In other words this, they lifted it higher. And you'll thank God in a day of difficulty and decline and departure, there were individuals who said, we will exalt, we will lift up, we will make higher that which speaks of the presence of God. We will lift it up. And, says the Word of God, they brought it into the house, and they sanctified the sun. Not now the idol in the home, but rather this, the ark in the home. And you notice this, that when the ark of God was brought into the house, a truth comes in in First Samuel you've never read of up until this time. They sanctified, sanctification. They set apart Eleazar, his son, to keep the ark of the Lord. And the lifting up, notice this, the lifting up of the ark into the house of Abinadab, and notice it says this, in the hill, these are all suggestive, and they sanctified Eleazar, his son. There was separation to keep it. That very truth leads to the greatest revival of the day when Samuel says, return unto the Lord and put away strange gods and prepare your hearts unto the Lord God. What's the teaching of the men of Kirjathirum? Just lifting up again the testimony, bringing it to a holy place, a noble place, a high place, and sanctifying those who will keep it. You know, sanctification is an essential part of the guarding of the presence of God. And from that, they took it from the enemy's land, they brought it into the house on the hill, they sanctified Eleazar to keep it, and that was the beginnings of a great movement of God. You know, chapter seven is a chapter of revival, a great revival amongst the people of God. It began with this, men who said, we'll take this out of the enemy's hands, and we'll bring it to the house of the, in the hill, the exalted place, and we'll sanctify one to keep it. And we'll prepare our hearts to seek the Lord, and we'll return unto him, and we'll put away Ashtaroth. And God moved in revival amongst them. Now to the latter section, three men, the men of Jabesh, and the men of David, and the men of Keilah. Now, as far as the men of Jabesh are concerned, you'll notice this, the enemy is Ammon. And the men of David, the enemy is Saul. And the men of Keilah, the enemy is Saul and even the Philistines. Now, as far as Jabesh is concerned, they said this, we want to make a covenant with Ammon. Now, you'll notice this. Ammon and Moab, Ammon and Moab were the produce of Lot's incestuous relationship with his daughters. And yet, the people of God, for the sake of peace, would like to make a covenant with the enemy of Ammon. Notice this. Whenever we want to enter into a covenant with the enemy or anything that's not true or the product of sin, you'll discover this. There's a price to pay. Well, says Nehash, we will make a covenant with you, but here's the condition. We thrust out your right eye. There's a lesson in that. And it's this. If we want to compromise with the enemy, we will essentially have to impair our vision. And the clarity of vision that God appropriates to his people will be at least halved and will deteriorate to the extent, to that extent, if they wish to make a covenant with Amon. In other words, relationship with the enemy will result in an impairing of spiritual vision. You can see it over and over again in the history of the nation. Whenever they started to flirt with the enemy, they started to depart from the Lord. Well, says the Word of God, we'll cons- the men of of Chavish will consent with the men of Judah. And so further down the chapter, they speak to Judah. Judah says this, listen, there's only one place for Ammon. Let's destroy it. And the people of God, the people of God that were contemplating compromise, anticipated fit battle. And there's a lesson for our souls here. See, it's the word of God, not we defend ourselves against principalities of others, we wrestle, not against principalities and powers and so on. We wrestle not so against flesh and blood, but against principalities. In other words, the initiative of the people of God is not to defend against the enemy, but rather to be on the offensive against them. That's why we go out in the gospel and right into his territory, right into the lion's den, right into the enemy's domain. To compromise and work with them will demand impairing of vision. Isn't that interesting that that's what you have in Laodicea, impaired vision. Compromise, you see, brings impaired vision. Judah says, no, no, we'll not compromise at the expense of our vision, but we'll rather fight to defeat the enemy, and we come out of that an enemy defeated, a vision intact, and glory brought to God through the men of Jabesh. But then, then we come to first Samuel twenty two. This time it's called David's Men. Do you know, I don't know if you've ever taken a minute just to check out where the cave of Adullam was. The cave of Adullam was situated just in the fields south of the li- uh, the, the, the town of Bethlehem. Isn't that lovely? You see, that's where he came from. That's where he s- that's where he fed the sheep. That's where he fought with the bear. That's where he fought with the lion. And God took him from that humble sphere and made him king. Now he's a king in rejection. And he goes back to the cave, which he knew from early days. Isn't it lovely? Isn't it lovely? Just to retrace the steps of early days and rekindle first values. For you'll discover this, that in this cave of Adullam, there are David's men, and you'll notice this. David was there. He's the king. And Ahimelech was there. He's the priest. And God is there, and he's the prophet. So in the days of the king's rejection, in the days of these discontented men and discouraged men, and he's fleeing for his life, and he's, as it were, hiding by the cave, God says, in this place of obscurity, I will secure for my name glory, and there will be in that cave, hidden in the fields of Bethlehem, the prophet and the priest and the king. Little wonder he made these men. But then lastly, and in closing, the men of Keilah. Do you know, I looked at this and it it really would, it really would would sadden you this, but the men of Keilah were men who enjoyed the presence of the King David. They enjoyed it. They experienced it. They were men who knew what it was to have the king dwelling amongst them. However, this was the days when he was being pursued by his life, for his life by the enemy Saul and the enemy of the Philistines. Although he was safer in Philistine hands than he was in Saul's hands. He seemed to be safer in the hands of the ungodly than he was in the hands of a, of a black-sledged man. It's an interesting point in itself. However, he the men, he was dwelling in this chapter with the men of Keilah. And David inquired of the Lord, and and he said this, will they deliver me up? What will they do? And the Lord said this, he came back with an answer, he said this, these men will deliver you up. Well, just let me, just let me explain that. It just means this: these men will hand you over. These men will not stand with you. They will not defend you. They will not protect you. When the enemy comes to attack, they will simply hand you over. And you rightly ask, for what reason? What was the, what was the motivating factor in these men? It wasn't money. It was this. These men said, we want peace at any cost. Just give us no enemy's attack. Just give us no trouble. Just give us no difficulty. And if you do, we will gladly hand the king over into our enemy's hand. I say this to you. There will be those in our day and generation, in this day of departure and decline, who will gladly, who will gladly say, look, we just want a life of peace, a life of ease. And whatever the price is, we'll gladly surrender any principle and even the honor of the king, the men of Keila. May God encourage us that in these days that we might learn their mistake and be given grace by God just to take a stand in defense of the king. Do you know, when Solomon constructed his bed, there were soldiers or men that surrounded it, and each one that surrounded the bed of the king had a sword in their hand in defense of his honor. And they said this, whatever it takes and whatever the price, and whatever the attack, we will stand for the honor of the king. First Samuel concludes, as far as these groups of men are concerned, with this lesson of a- of men who s- who chose to embrace the peaceful route, and the cost of that was the handing over of the king. Meekard, you must help. Not to follow their example, but to learn from their mistake and