Turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter
24. 1 Samuel 24 and in this chapter
our Lord demonstrates his mighty power and grace in David. And we see in David the mighty
figure of our Lord Jesus Christ and what he by his grace and
power works in his child and we see why he does the things
he does in teaching us and in growing us in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now tonight I want
us to see how the Lord does this work in teaching us and in using
us in the kingdom not only to his praise and glory, but he
makes us useful to others, to our brethren and to sinners who
need to hear the grace of God. And I want us to see how he does
this, first in the application of his word, in giving us his
word. that we should understand not
to be neglectful of his word and what he shows us in it. And
then we see how the Lord is humble and in his humility how he accomplished
our salvation and how he uses that to speak to us, to reveal
to us and give us the gospel. And then he gives us the testimony
of the gospel to declare. As he's taught us that gospel,
we have that same testimony by which we declare to others. And
it's because he's worked these things in us and made us members
of his body and put us in his kingdom for this very purpose.
So Saul now has determined he's done with the Philistines. He's
done pursuing them and messing around with them, and now he's
going after David. He gathers up about 3,000 men,
it says, out of all of Israel. And every tribe was represented
there out of all of Israel, and he goes to look for David and
his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. Now, verse 3. And
he came to the sheep coats by the way. These were natural sheep
pens. This is where shepherds would
take their sheep. And it was a good place because
this was a place with natural caves. And there was cool areas
to get out of the heat of the sun. And we're told there was
a cave there in verse 3. And Saul went in to cover his
feet. And David and his men remained
in the sides of that cave. They were there. David and at
least a few of his men were there in that cave where Saul entered
in. Saul entered into that cave.
Now, some men take that to mean that Saul went to relieve himself
and use that place as a toilet. Others make a very good point
in saying that he went to sleep. He went in there to get a nap,
to get out of the heat of the sun, and to enjoy that coolness
there. And that makes more sense if
David's moving around and as they're probably talking and
whispering among themselves there. And Saul never heard it or noticed.
I think he was asleep. Verse 4 And the men of David
said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee,
Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou
mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David
arose, and he cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. He didn't rise up and slay him,
he cut off Saul's robe, and that carefully, quietly, he did this.
Now, you can imagine this had to be a tremendous temptation
for David not to take Saul's life. Why? Well, Saul was literally
pursuing David. He wanted to take David's life.
If Saul caught David, he wouldn't have spared him. He would have
taken David's life. And so, this had to be a temptation
for David. to get him before he gets him
instead. Additionally, there were men
there that dedicated their lives to David. They were in the same
predicament as David was so that they could not go back to the
way things were in their lives anymore. They saw what Saul did
to Ahimelech, the priest, 85 priests in total, and all the
inhabitants of the city of Nab. He slew them all just because
of their association, how much more these men that had joined
themselves to David. And so they're not living normal
lives, so they're hoping this is it. This is it. Now David's
going to be king, and we're going to flood back out into some normalcy
here. And they made this expectation
known to David. They're telling David, do it,
David. Do it. Take his life. Seize this opportunity to kill
your enemy. And on top of that, providentially, This Saul is delivered into David's
hand. Providentially, Providence is
saying, take his life, David. You've got it. This is what you've
been waiting for, David. This is what the Lord said, David.
And he's being very tempted by this. But while he's thinking
on these things, he gets up. And all he does is take. a part
of the robe. He cuts off the skirt of the
robe of Saul's robe. And perhaps he's thinking how
he might use this and was thinking what he might do here. But even
with that discretion and not taking David's life, we're told
that afterward, verse five, David's heart smote him. That means he
was pricked in the heart. He was, he was, he felt the sting
of what he had done and what he was thinking of doing. And just because he had cut off
Saul's skirt. Now look at verse 6 and 7 here.
And he said unto his men, the Lord forbid that I should do
this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth
mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.
So David stayed his servants with these words. those words
that the Lord used to sting his heart, he stayed his servants
with these words and suffered them not. He did not allow them
to rise against Saul, but Saul rose up out of the cave and went
on his way. And I looked at the center column
references, and I looked at the commentaries that I had just
to see, is there any law that would forbid David to do this?
And yes, you can piece together some laws. And I mean, it says
not even to speak ill of the leader of thy people in the law
of Moses. But there's nothing that would
have outright prevented David from doing this thing, and yet
the Lord used it to smite David's heart, to convict David. The
Lord used it. He gave it to David and said,
don't do it. Don't do it. By the smiting of his heart,
Now, there is a gospel picture here in this. In fact, it's throughout
this whole chapter here. There's a standing gospel truth
in this in seeing what our spiritual David, the Lord Jesus Christ,
does for his people in restraining us and in leading us, and in
guiding us in the way of truth and life. And it's to the praise
and glory of his name. Now, in this brief example, we
see how the Lord uses his word to correct us, and to teach us,
and to instruct us, and to lead us in that way of truth and life. You see, David was smitten in
his heart at just the thought of laying a hand on Saul. He was troubled by that. The
Lord used that to trouble David. And not only would David not
do this thing, but he wouldn't even allow his servants that
were with him to harm Saul either. And I believe it's in that, that
David takes on a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ in seeing
how he stays his servants with his word. Our Lord instructs
us with His word. He's given us this word to teach
us the Lord, to show us what we are, to show us our need of
Him, to show us our great God and Savior. And so this forms
a beautiful picture of the grace of our Lord to make known to
us His word. Not only to have it, but you
that open it and read it. and to you that it's made effectual
to, to you that love the word of the Lord and thank him for
his word and you read his word because you want to know him,
that's a mercy. of our God to do that for us,
to give us this word. And so, and in addition to that
word, he gives us his spirit. And by his spirit, he makes us
to hear the word, to receive the word, to believe the word,
to desire that the Lord form that word in our hearts in truth,
that we would hear it and live upon him who is the very word
of God, the bread of heaven. and that we might obey His voice
to turn us from our way and what we would do and that we would
go in the way of Christ instead. He does that for us. He teaches
us and he instructs us and leads us in the way. Read that once
more. In verse six, David was instructed
of the Lord not to do it himself. And so David stayed his servants. And this is what the Lord Jesus
Christ does for us. He stays his servants with these words
and suffers them not to rise against Saul here. But Saul rose
up out of the cave and went on his way. So, first of all, When
our Lord saves His child, He makes us to know what sin is. He makes us to know the truth.
He makes us to know what His word says about sin. Sin is not
what our Lord is. Our Lord hates sin, and He makes
us to know that He hates sin. He makes us to know that this
world is under the wrath of God because of our sin. 1 Peter 1 verse 15 and 16, But
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner
of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am
holy. Now does the Lord say that because
we can of our own strength and power, of our will and our works? Make ourselves holy? No. No, it's not because you and
I can make ourselves holy by our strength. Absolutely not.
He tells us this to make known to us who God is. He makes us
to know that our God is holy and righteous and perfect in
all his ways. And it's to make us to know,
because what he's saying there, what Peter's saying there, is
it's making known to us God's eternal will and purpose for
his people, what he does for us. In grace and mercy, in the
Lord Jesus Christ, be ye holy, for I am holy. Not because we
can make ourselves holy, but because that is his purpose for
us. In the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul said, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. In the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Christ. And so it's our Savior,
it's our Lord, who is our very holiness. He is our sanctification. He's given the Spirit to sanctify
us, to set us apart for Himself, not for this world, but to deliver
us from this world and the corruption of this world, that we might
know Him, that we would be a people, a peculiar people that are His
people in the earth. that were His people, as we're
told, were His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works
which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2.10. Additionally, by this and all
the scriptures, our Lord makes us to know that I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I've not kept the
law of God. I'm not perfect in all my ways. I need His grace and mercy. He makes us to know that He is
holy. He makes us to know what sin
is, and He shows us how that's what I am by nature. That's what
I am by nature. I have a sinful heart. My thoughts
are wicked. My ways are wicked. My deeds
are wicked. My words are wicked. He makes
us to know that I, by nature, am sin, and I need his grace
and mercy. You think about what David was
saying there. He was shown, don't slay Saul. Don't take Saul's life. He's
anointed of the Lord. And so the Lord showed him, don't
do this. The Lord forbid him to do it.
And he turned and declared the truth. Now, Christ wasn't tempted
in any way. He wouldn't do any wickedness,
but in the sense that David here teaches the Word, stays his servants
with the Word. That's where we see Christ. Our
Savior stays his servants with his Word, and he will not allow
us. There are things that he delivers
us from and prevents us from. If we go into sin, it's for our
learning. We're going to be chastened and
taught of the Lord and it'll be made useful to us, but we're
not, he doesn't turn us into sin, but he stays us and suffers
us not to do sin, to do wickedly. So we see our Lord does that.
He shows us what sin is. He shows us how destructive and
evil sin is in his word. Sin entered into the world by
one man and death by sin. And we have a very weak understanding
of what death is. But he shows us in his Word when
our Savior had delivered that woman that was taken in adultery,
taken in the very act of adultery. And he delivered her so that
all men left and no man stoned her with a stone. He said unto
her, woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? And she said, no man, Lord. And
Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin
no more. Why would he say go and sin no
more? Because if you do that, you're going to be destroyed,
he's saying. You keep doing that, you're going to be destroyed.
Don't do that. Go and sin no more. Again, in
John 5, 14, that was John 8, this is in John 5, 14, after
our Lord healed the man on the Sabbath day and bore that brunt
from all the self-righteous Pharisees, he bore that form, afterward
Jesus findeth him in the temple and said unto him, behold, thou
art made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto
thee. Why does our Lord say these things?
Well, because for one thing, Sin is destructive. Sin and death is destructive.
It destroys your own life. It destroys the lives of those
that you love and care about. I'm mindful of my sin just as
your pastor. Because I know how heartbreaking
it is when a pastor does something in the world. We're all sinners.
We're all the exact same. I have the same lusts and passions
and desires, wants and needs as any of you. And yet I know
that it would break your heart. And so I know that in that, we
all know what sin is. Because there's things I could
do that would disappoint you terribly. Disappoint terribly. And that's on my heart and my
mind all the time. And I can't do it, I'm no different
than you. But I'm made to see what sin is and how destructive
and wicked it is. And so I don't want to do that
because I want to preach the gospel so that you can hear it.
Hear it and that the Lord bless you with it. And so he shows
us one, how destructive sin is, what pain and misery it causes. And second, that he was come
to die for the sins of his people. He makes us to know that that's
the whole purpose why he came, because we are sinners, because
we could not work ourselves out of this. He suffered in agony
under the wrath of God because of the sins of his people. What
did Isaiah tell us? He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his stripes, we are
healed. He bore the punishment that I
earned. He bore it. He did that in his
own body. And so the Lord is... my shame the Lord has said have
you no shame for what you're doing here have you no shame
that my son bore that for you and yeah that I mean it shows
me what I am and just how corrupt and evil and dark sin is in my
need of the Lord and am I Third, he tells us that he has saved
us from our sins that we should live unto him in righteousness.
He tells us that in his word. Peter speaks of this in 1 Peter
2. 1 Peter 2 and verse 24 and 25, who his own self bear our
sins in his own body on the tree. that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were a sheep going astray. And I thought about that. What
happens when a sheep goes astray? It gets ripped apart. When a
wolf or some animal finds it, it destroys that sheep. Or it
falls in a ditch, and no one finds it, and it dies. Sheep
going astray is not good for sheep. They will be destroyed
and die. We were as sheep going astray.
We were lost. We were headed for destruction
but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls
by his grace. By his grace. him who loved us
and gave himself for us to give us life in himself to deliver
us from the death that awaits the sheep that go astray he delivered
us that's grace and just by his word which describes the many
falls right when we see this scripture has concluded all under
sin and we see it we read it and we see how the Lord instructed
them taught them turn them from their wicked ways and how God
revealed them, it makes us to know, Lord, that's the grace
and mercy I need. Save me. Have mercy on me the
way you had mercy on them. Reveal yourself to me the way
you revealed yourself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don't leave
me and pass me by like you passed by Ishmael and Esau. Lord have mercy on me. And so the Lord allows us to
see in measure the blackness and the corruption of our own
heart and it bubbles up and we see it and it stresses us because
it's meant to do that. It's meant to show us what darkness
is, what blackness is, what evil is, so that we would see our
need of Christ. And he uses his word to do it,
just by showing us what his word says. And there comes a day when
we read that word and we're troubled by it. We might read that word
15, 20, 100 times, and one day the Lord strikes us with it,
like David was smitten in his heart, don't do that, don't do
that. But that word was then used and
made useful to others. And he prevented them from rising
up against Saul. And so Paul says, let not sin
therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lusts thereof. Peter similarly says, dearly
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly
lusts which war against the soul. And so we're brought to see that. And we're brought, when the Lord
pleases, to bring us into that wrestling, to bring us into that
struggle, to bring us to see our need of his mercy, our need
of his grace, our need of his salvation. And he's doing that
in that part. This body, we see sin in our
members, in our minds, in our hearts, in our thoughts, words,
and deeds. We see it in all our members.
And the only place where sin is not present is in the new
man which Christ has created in us. His seed. that which is
born in us of His Spirit, and so that we're made to seek His
grace and mercy in that hour. We're made to seek Him. Listen
to what Peter then says, to you who have the Spirit of God, to
you who hear His Word and know what we are by nature. Peter
says in 2 Peter 1, 3, and 4, According as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust." He allows that struggle to come
upon us, that we would cry out to the Lord and beg him for mercy
and grace and desire his spirit, grace, and power to be brought
in us more and more. And in that, I'm reminded of
what Paul said when he wrote to the Philippians, Philippians
3.10, when he said that I may know him and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto his death. What does he mean there? Through
the various trials, the manifold temptations, the struggles, and
seeing what I am in this flesh, and my ever needing him, Christ,
the bread of heaven. If by any means, he said, I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not that he was
looking to be saved, but he's saying, howsoever it pleases
God to bring me to die, to lay down my life for him, and to
raise me from the dead, so be it. Because the Lord makes us
willing. by His grace and power, through His word, through His
spirit, through His grace for us. Now this strongly ties into
the second thing that I want to show you here, that David's
servants learned, that they saw and were taught that day and
what David did. They witnessed David's humility. And in David's humility, they
heard the gospel. They saw the gospel. They heard
it declared in his humility. Saul went out of the cave not
knowing how near he was to death. He didn't even know that he had
just escaped death, that his life was precious in David's
eyes. And it says in verse 8, 1 Samuel 24, 8, David also arose
afterward and went out of the cave and cried after Saul, saying,
my lord, the king. And when Saul looked behind him,
David stooped with his face to the earth and bowed himself.
Now, mind you, David's servants are seeing this. They're witnessing
this. All right, they're seeing this.
But this brethren is a an incredible picture of the gospel here in
that Christ, who was put to death, Christ, who was put to death
for the sins of his people. Right. And he was in in that
in that cave, in that grave there by the hands of wicked men. He
rises up from the dead, just like David rose up. He rose up
from the dead and went out of the mouth of that cave out of
the grave. And then lifted up his voice
and declares the glorious gospel for his people. What he accomplished
in his humility, what he accomplished in the weakness of his flesh.
And he arose and he went out of the grave and he declares
that gospel to the people. Declaring the good news. And
that's what Dave is doing here. He's declaring good news. in Saul's ears. Verse 9, David
said to Saul, Wherefore, hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold,
David seeketh thy herd. Isn't that the great lie of the
devil? Isn't that exactly what the devil said to Adam and Eve
in the garden? He said, Oh, God doesn't want
you to take of that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, for in the day you eat of that tree, he knows
that you'll be like God, knowing good and evil. He's trying to
keep good from you. He's trying to keep you from
partaking of those things. Is that what God is doing? Not
at all. God is keeping us from death
and destruction. He did it for our good, not the
devil. What the devil says is wicked. And so the Lord is looking out
for our everlasting good. And what he did is for our good.
Verse 10, behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord
hath delivered thee today into mine hand in the cave. And some bade me kill thee, but
mine eyes spared thee. And I said, I will not put forth
mine hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord's anointed." Now,
again, that picture for us here is that we are the chosen of
God, given into the hand of Christ for our good. If Christ had chosen
to save himself and withdrew from us, we'd have died. If he
looked out only for himself, died in our sins, but our lives
were precious in his sight, so that he pitied us, he took pity
on us, and he went forth to save us, to deliver us from death. Moreover, verse 11, Moreover,
my father, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand, for in
that I cut off the skirt of thy robe and killed thee not. There's two pictures in that.
One is a picture of Christ coming in the weakness of our flesh,
in our robe, robed in our flesh. and coming and laying down his
life there for us. And then the other picture is
that in his life, that's a picture of the circumcision of our heart,
which he works in us to deliver us from the love of this world
and the dead things of this world. Know thou and see that there
is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not
sinned against thee, yet thou huntest my soul to take it. And so the truth is that our
God can easily and justly take our lives whenever it pleases
him. We could go home tonight and take our sleep and never
wake up from it. never take another breath in
that very hour stand before the judgment throne of God. Yet the father sent his son into
the world for this very purpose. to deliver his people from death,
and to give us life, to be merciful to us, to spare his people in
grace because we could not save ourselves. And like David, who
stooped with his face to the ground, to the earth, and bowed
himself, so our Lord Jesus Christ came in the weakness, in the
likeness of this flesh, yet without sin. He humbled himself as a
man. and trusted the Father for all
things, for all things, so that he didn't destroy his enemies
with legions of angels. He could have called down legions
of angels to take him down off that cross and wipe out all those
that stood before him, but he didn't do that. He not only spared
us, but he laid down his life, taking the place of the servant
to obtain life for his people, to make us righteous in himself,
to give us life in himself, to show us grace and mercy in himself. And I suspect that many believers
here, if you ask them, They can recount to you numerous times
as they reflect back on life how that God could have taken
their lives and yet He spared them. Not once, not twice, not
three times, not five, many times. That we know of. That we can
say, the Lord spared me that day. The Lord was merciful to
me that day. The Lord delivered my soul that
day. I could have died, I should have died, and yet He spared
me. and didn't deal with me according
to what my sins deserved and warranted. And so he shows us
that, and he shows us that to remind us that we're not our
own. We're not our own, you're bought with a price. Therefore
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. And that word, again, can only
be heard by the giving of his spirit, and the spirit making
that word effectual in your heart so that you hear it and receive
it and believe his word. And he speaks it nonetheless
to stir us up, to show us, to remind us, yes, Lord, you are
my all. You are my savior, my salvation. You are my Lord and my King.
Lord have mercy upon me. And so David's servants saw that
humility of David. And they saw that testimony of
the gospel being declared to Saul and sparing his life. And I doubt they ever imagined
what would happen is what happened. How that Saul, instead of turning
on David, Saul heard it. But they saw here a picture of
what Christ has done. in his humility and how he's
gentle and kind to his people and leading us in grace and in
mercy. How that by his work as our Savior,
he brings his word to bear upon us, he instructs us, we've been
seeing in Luke. time after time after time. They
have moments where they see things, they see the truth, and they
confess the truth, and immediately after, the Lord's rebuking them,
or instructing them, or teaching them again and again. And it's
not once, but more than once, that the Lord is telling them
the same lesson again and again, over and over. He's repeating
Himself, and He does it for our good. by his word and by his
spirit and grace through his gospel. And he gives us his gospel
word to us to behold his love and sacrifice for his people,
which he accomplished in his humility. I think of what Zechariah
said in Zechariah 9.9, Behold thy king cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation,
lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an
ass. And so I pray that the Lord make
us to hear his merciful cry and what he's accomplished in his
redemption and has done for the rest of our souls, for our rest
and our peace. Now, there's one more thing I
have to show you here. One final point that the Lord
is showing us here which is accomplished in that glorious redemption of
our Lord here, where the good news is preached. Today is the day of grace, and
his word is preached, and it goes forth, declaring and seeking
out the lost sheep. And so he's telling us what he's
done, how he spared our lives, the way David's telling Saul,
I spared your life, your life was precious in my sight. And
so, When the gospel is out, we see the response of Saul is a
picture of the response of God's people. Saul heard David's voice
and it says in verse 16, it came to pass when David had made an
end of speaking these words unto Saul. Saul has gotten some terrifying
and good news all at once. Like wow, I was almost dead,
but I've heard good news. My life was spared. That Saul
said, is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his
voice. and wept. He heard the voice
of David, and he said to David, Thou art more righteous than
I, for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded
thee evil. How true that is of us, brethren,
how the Lord rewards us good. Though all we are is fighting
him, resisting him, doing our own thing, going our own way.
And yet he sends his sun and rain upon us, upon the just and
the unjust. And he's good to us, always good
to us. And he gives us his word, brethren.
And thou hast showed this day how that thou hast dealt well
with me. For as much as when the Lord
had delivered me into thine hand, thou killest me not. For if a
man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? Wherefore the
Lord reward thee good, for that thou hast done unto me this day. And now, behold, I know well
that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel
shall be established in thine hand. And that's the good news
that the Lord makes us to hear and by His grace and power turns
our heart the way He turned Saul's heart to know how good our God
has been to us in the Lord Jesus Christ in sparing our life and
not dealing with us as our sins deserve but instead giving us
life and salvation in Him. And He brings out that confession
to know he's our king. He's our king and in him the
kingdom is established. It's not established in our hand.
It's not established by our works. It's not established by our will
or what we want. It's established in the hand
of Jesus Christ and he's going to make us to know that first
and we're going to see it. It's established in his hand.
He's going to say it in his word and then he's going to show it
to us in truth. Now One point I want to make
here, and it ties back to that beginning there, how our Lord
makes us to know our sin by his word. And what it means here
in declaring the testimony. If David had done what David
thought to do in taking the life of Saul, would he now be standing
here declaring the testimony, this testimony of how his life
was spared. No. Saul would have been dead. He never would have heard that
testimony. Had David taken his life, would
Saul be confessing right now to David that you're more righteous
than I and you spared my life? You're the king. You're the good
one. You're the righteous one. You're
you're perfect and that's brethren what our Lord does what the reason
why he gives us his word and teaches us his word and puts
it in our heart and gives us his spirit and Leads us and guides
us in the new man looking to Christ seeing Christ here in
Christ rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ he's doing that
and and and Conforming us to the Lord Jesus Christ our Lord
and our Savior Because all of that culminates in the testimony
which he's given to us, which he's put in our hearts, and he's
put in our mouth to declare to others. That's why he does this. He separates us to himself in
his kingdom to declare this word, to declare it in truth. And we
see how that David being kept by his Lord And by that word,
he then had a testimony to declare to Saul. So that Saul could hear
it and rejoice in it too that same day. So that inspires me,
that comforts me, that rejoices me to see the gospel, to see
the salvation of my God and what he does in his people, why he
does it and the way that he does it. It's all for good. It's all
to declare His glory, praise, and honor. And so brethren, I
pray that you rejoice in that word as well and keep looking
to the Lord because He's the one that works it in us, brethren.
Amen.