We're turning our Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 5. Well, we're here at Thursday, but we didn't get to the second part, and I want to try to get to that this morning. Let's begin here in verse 17. We'll read it again. 2 Samuel 5, 17 says, When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, All the Philistines came up to seek David, and David heard of it, and he went down to the hold. The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Repham.

And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines, with thou deliver them into mine hand? And the Lord said unto David, Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. And David came to Bealperism, and David smote them there, and said, the Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me as the breach of waters.

Therefore he called the name of that place Bealperism. And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them. And the Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Rephim, And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, Thou shalt not go up, but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself. For then shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines. And David did so as the Lord had commanded him, and smoked the Philistines from Geba all until thou come to Gezer.

Now, what we saw here in this first battle was that the moment the Lord made David king, that's when the Philistines came up against him, the moment he was made king. of sin is the Valley of Rephalem. We live in the Valley of Rephalem. And it's called the Valley of Giants. And we have a lot of enemies that are giants to us.

But in both these battles, King David won the victory. And he is a picture of the Lord Jesus, the true king, the king of kings and Lord of lords. The Lord Jesus has made his people kings and priests unto God, and he will keep us and protect us as we journey through this wilderness, because he has saved his people. He has accomplished our warfare. So that's what we're gonna see here, that the king is our Lord Jesus, and these two battles are a picture of what he did for his people on the cross, and what he does in his people through the preaching of the gospel. Now let's review a little bit here. That first battle represents the cross.

You see there it says, when David heard that the Philistines came up to seek David, he went down. He went down to the hold, and then it says he called on the Lord. He asked the Lord what he should do, and then he went up to the Philistines. Well, think about what the Lord Jesus did.

The Son of God, who is God, He came down. He came down and was made flesh like unto His brethren. And He lived His life dependent upon the Father just like David prayed to the Father. Christ lived His life trusting the Father, representing His people.

And then He went up to the cross and He said, I must be lifted up. And he bore the sin and curse of his people, and now he's lifted up to the right hand of God, and he's accomplished our warfare. And it says there in verse 20, David came to Belperism, and David smote them there, and he said, the Lord hath broken forth, made a breach upon mine enemies, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Belperism. 13 says Christ is the breaker same word the breach the one who made the breach by bearing the sin and the curse of his people he put away our sin and he Broke the yoke that the devil had he broke he bruised his head took his power by taking away our sin and and the Lord Jesus He conquered He conquered sin, death, and hell for his people. And now he's risen.

So there is no salvation in any other. If you have it, cast your care on Christ. He is the only way to the Father. There's no other way. He is the righteousness and the holiness, the redemption. He's the wisdom. He's the breaker. He's the one who frees his people and keeps us all our days. He's the only way to glory.

Let's look at this second battle. This pictures Christ conquering the enemy within his people, within his people. He says there in verse 22, the Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Repha. Now Christ has conquered all the enemies of his people on the cross, but we have an enemy within us, we have a Philistine in our old sin nature. The scripture says by nature, Our carnal mind is enmity against God. And so we had a enemy within us, and we still have that enemy within us. We still have an old man of sin within us. And we have a lot of enemies around us, all around us. But just like the Lord broke, he broke the yoke at the cross, he's gonna break the yoke in his people. break that yoke that the sin nature has, break that bondage that the devil had upon us.

And he's gonna do it through the preaching of this word, through this gospel. He said, my sheep hear my voice. He's gonna make us hear him speak. And he said, and I know them. That's more than him knowing where we are and who we are. He does know that. But when he makes you hear his voice, he knows you in power, in saving power, by regenerating you and making you to believe him.

And he says, and the result is they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. We're gonna face a lot of enemies as we go through this world, but the Lord's teaching us through all the trials and troubles that he is our salvation, that he's accomplished it, and he will not let us go. He will not let us go.

But this work within is accomplished a different way than the work at the cross. Our Lord went to the cross and laid down his life that he might be the gospel we preach. And now we're declaring what he accomplished at Calvary, and through this message, he's gonna save his people in spirit And look what he says here now, that's what we have pictured.

Verse 23, and when David inquired of the Lord, he said, thou shalt not go up, but fetch a compass behind them, it means go around behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees. that then thou shalt bestir thyself, for then shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines. So the Lord told David, wait for the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees.

That pictures the Holy Spirit. That's what it pictured. Go over to Acts 1, and I'll show you this in Acts 1. Before Pentecost came, our Lord assembled together with his apostles, with his disciples, and he commanded them to wait for the Holy Spirit. Now watch here in Acts 1 and verse 4. It says, and being assembled together with them. Brethren, that's what we pray, that Lord will assemble with us.

He said he would. He promised he would. He assembled with them and commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, you have heard of me. The Lord told them, he promised, that once he had finished the work at the cross and gone to the Father, that he would pray the Father and he would send the Holy Spirit, he would send the Comforter, and he says here, For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power, but you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And here's what the Holy Spirit makes his people do. You shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

Now hold your place right there just a minute. This is what we have pictured in our text. The Lord told David, wait. Circle around behind them and you wait till you hear the sound of the going in the top of the mulberry trees. And look here now. Acts 2 and verse 1, and when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it set upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now, hold your place right there.

The Lord tells us, he declared, that when the Holy Spirit has come and when he brings you to be a witness and to speak, he said the Holy Spirit's not gonna speak of himself. He said he's gonna speak of me. Listen to this from John 16. Verse 13, he said, when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.

And he will show you things to come. And he shall glorify me. The Holy Spirit will give, he will teach you Christ. He will glorify Christ. For he shall receive of mine, or receive from me, and shall show it to you. The Spirit's getting his message from Christ and the Father and he's giving it to his people and he's doing it through what we're doing right here, the preaching of the gospel.

So the apostles began to speak with other tongues. Now that's not some nonsensical language. That is not what that means. They preached in foreign languages, languages that had been foreign to them up to that point, languages they had not learned, but they preached Christ in him, crucified. They preached the gospel of what Christ, who he is, and what he accomplished.

Look here now, verse five, Acts 2.5.

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language. That's tongues right there. Every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? and how, here we, every man in our own tongue wherein we were born.

Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, and Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, in parts of Libya, about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians, listen now, We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. You see, they could understand what was being preached, and they were preaching the wonderful works of God.

The Lord promised David, he said, when you hear the sound of the going in the tops of the mulberry trees, he said, then you bestow yourself, because, here's why. He said, for then shall the Lord go out before you and smite the host of the Philistine. So David was told, you wait. And the apostles and the disciples said, you wait till the Spirit comes. And when the Holy Spirit comes, then you preach Christ and him crucified. You bestow yourself and you preach the wonderful works of God. And the Lord will go forth before you and he will smite the Philistines. And that's what happened. That's what Peter declared.

Look at Acts 2 and look here in verse 32. He quoted some scripture and he showed how David knew David was preaching about Christ in the Psalms. And he gets to this point in verse 32 and he says, this Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the father the promise of the holy ghost He hath shed forth this which you now see in here you get the picture in our text David you wait for the spirit and when you hear that rushing mighty wind then you go forward and Peter you go forward and you preach Christ and the Lord will go before you and he will smite them in the heart Peter said He's worked this. From his throne in glory, the Lord Jesus has worked this. And what does that tell us about him?

It says here, verse 34, for David's not ascended into the heavens, but he said himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I make thy foes thy footstool. When David wrote that in the Psalms, David knew. God the Father said to Christ his Son, sit here at my right hand till I make your foes your footstool. David knew and all his people know by the Spirit of God that that speaks of Christ. And he said, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

You know, if you hear the gospel and a sinner walks out, without casting all his care on Christ. Scripture says he crucifies the Lord of Christ afresh. It's the same as just nailing him to a cross, rejecting him, rejecting his gospel. Cast your care on him. He's the Lord. He's the sovereign of heaven and earth, and he's the Savior. He's the anointed Christ, the only one that can bring us to the Father and make us accepted. Trust him. But here's the thing, the Lord promised to go before David and smite the Philistines. We all have a Philistine in our heart. That's what our old nature is. Nothing but a rebel against God. Romans 8 says the carnal mind is enmity against God. That's all we are by nature.

And so the Lord sends this gospel and he enters in. He comes in spirit. just like he did on the day of Pentecost. And as Peter preached, the Lord smote 3,000 Philistines that day. They were chosen elect children of God that Christ had laid down his life for and redeemed on the cross. And because their old man had died in Christ on the cross, and their new man had risen with Christ justified, therefore Christ sent the gospel to them, and he conquered that old Philistine in 3,000 people that day. and gave them faith to trust him, and they believed him.

And from then on, Peter and the others went forth preaching Christ, and down there in Acts 2.47, the second part says, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

That's what we have pictured in our text. You see, the glory of saving his people, that goes to Christ alone. It pleased the Father that his son have all preeminence, that all fullness dwell in his son. So the Lord Jesus went to the cross and he established a law for his people. He made us righteous in him and justified his people of all our sin.

And then he gets the glory from his throne of sending the gospel. He's the Lord. That means he's sovereign over everybody, everything, all his creation. So he arranges it to where he brings his child under the gospel. Sovereign Lord does that. And the Savior, the Lord Jesus, sends this gospel forth and the Spirit enters the heart and guides his child into all truth.

He conquers that Philistine in us and makes us behold the Lord Jesus and believe on him. Now let me say a few words in closing. Our saviors won the victory. Isaiah 40, we're to preach and declare that our warfare is accomplished. For the Lord's people, for His true Jerusalem, He has accomplished our warfare. He has put away our sins. He's rewarded us double for all our sins. Now that's the fact. And now He's risen in all the powers He is. And He's doing this. He's working this work. And everybody that he saved on Calvary Scrawls has got to be born again. But we can't do it ourselves. No sinner can do it for himself. No sinner can make himself be born again. And no preacher and no church can make any other sinner believe. Only the Lord can make us be born again.

He said this to Nicodemus. He said, the wind bloweth where it listeth, where it will. Just like that. You had to wait for that sound of the going in the mulberry tree. The spirit moves where it will, just like the wind. He said, you can hear the sound, but you can't tell where it's coming from or where it's going. So is everyone that's born of the spirit.

So he uses us to preach the gospel, but we have to wait on the Lord, just like he told David. He's gonna get the glory for making his child believe on him. We're blessed because God the Father chose us and caused us to approach unto him. And Christ causes his child to approach unto him. Now, let's look at David as a believer. Even though, you know, when he started this first battle and he heard the enemy had come up, he went and inquired of the Lord.

And we saw Thursday night how that pictures Christ. Christ lived in total dependence on the Father, though he were a son. yet learn the obedience by the things which he suffered. We're children, we're sons of God by grace, by his power, but we're gonna suffer. And we're learning obedience by the things which we suffer. And the obedience we're learning is this.

In every case, the Lord Jesus, he's God of every God, but when he made himself a servant, serving for his people and serving God, He depended entirely upon the Father. And though he were a son, he prayed to the Father who he knew could save him. He prayed to him and the Father heard him. And Christ accomplished it. He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

See, he's bringing us through these trials and troubles to teach you and me to call on him and to trust him and wait on him That's the obedience he's teaching us through these things we suffer. Paul said in Romans 5, we not only glory that he saved us, we glory in tribulations also, because tribulations work patience.

You have to wait on the Lord. And it works experience. He proves to you that he's true to his word. He's gonna save all his people, but you have to wait, and you experience that. And by the love of, by the spirit, and the love of God being shed abroad in your heart, it increases you in hope. When he saves you from this trial, you patiently waited by his grace, and you experienced him save you from it, it gives you hope knowing he's going to save me in the next trial, and the next trial, and the next trial, and he's going to save me entirely and bring me to glory. See, that's what he's working through the trouble. So we're learning the obedience of looking to Christ, calling on Christ, waiting on Christ, and then giving Christ all the glory. This is the obedience he calls us to.

And so even though David had been successful in that first war, he still, when the next time the battle came and they came up again, what did he do? He went right back to the Lord. and ask the Lord for direction. Turn with me to Proverbs 3. Proverbs chapter 3.

And listen to this right here. I don't care how long you've been in the faith. I don't care how many times you've experienced trials and you've been through all of this. This never stops being the word to us so long as we're in this life. Proverbs 3.5. Proverbs 3 verse 5, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. You get that? That's what we do in every case. Don't trust yourself. Don't lean to your own understanding. You trust in the Lord with all your heart. In all thy ways acknowledge him, he shall direct thy paths.

Jeremiah said this, now listen to this now, Jeremiah 10.23, he said, O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself.

It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Boy, that's not what the world says. The world, that world doesn't say that. But that's what he brings his people to know. You can't direct your steps. You don't know what to do next. I don't either. Here was what he said next. He said, O Lord, correct me, but with judgment, not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. And that's how the Lord's going to do it.

We're like a ship, a sail that sails, that has sails. A ship that has sails can't move at all. unless the wind blows. And you and me can't move at all unless the Spirit of the Lord bestirs us within. And we have to wait for the power of the Spirit. Then the Lord said, then you bestir yourself, for then shall the Lord go out before thee and smite your enemy. He bestirs us by the Spirit, renews you inwardly, and that makes you Move, that makes you do. It's only by his spirit that he gives us power.

Listen now, let me give you some scripture. Jeremiah 17, 14, he said, heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved. For thou art my praise. And again, he says, I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned. For thou art the Lord my God.

Now that's not what the false professor says. The false believer, the false church, is not waiting on the Lord. They take the gospel, they take the offense out of it, they craft it, so that they say Christ died for everybody, he wants to save everybody, if you'll just let him. That's not the true God, that's not the gospel, that's as far out of left field, it's not even in the ballpark.

Listen, here's what they're doing. Psalm 12, four, they've said, with our tongue will we prevail, whose Lord over us? That's what they're doing. Not preaching, when you've experienced this power of the Lord, you'll preach Christ, you'll pray to Christ to do the work, and you'll wait on him to do the work, but not until the end. The Lord taught us the powers of God, it's not of us. We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power might be of God, not of us.

When you said, seek my face, that's when I sought your face. That's what the psalmist said. David said, when you said, seek my face, Lord, that's when I sought your face. The world says, you take the first step, the Lord will do the rest. No, that's not the gospel. The gospel is, Lord, you speak in power to me and tell me to seek you. That's why I sought you. So who gets the glory? He does. But for the world saying, I sought him and therefore he sought me, that's putting the sinner in the place of God. That's saying he's got the power only God has. That's giving the sinner glory. That's a lie that will damn you in hell is what that is.

The truth is, Lord, you said seek me, and that came in power, and it gave me a new heart and a new will and faith to believe and power to seek you. He gets the glory. Go to 1 Chronicles 29 11. I'll end with this, but I want you to see it. 1 Chronicles 29 11. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.

There's where he brings his people. That's when you sing unto the Lord a new song, entirely new, and you say, He has done marvelous things. His right hand and His holy arm has gotten Him the victory. And all the glory goes to Him. See, He's gonna use us. He's gonna use us to preach Him. But nobody He uses to preach Him is gonna take the glory. We're not gonna praise ourselves. We're saying He did it all.

You don't ever move without going to the Lord and asking Him. Lord, what would you have me to do? You don't want to take a step without him being present. You don't want to make a move without him being the one who moved you and being the one that's going before you and behind you and having his everlasting arms under you because he is salvation in him alone, him alone.

And I don't sit up here and beg sinners to come, come to the front and beg sinners to believe on Christ because I know how he works in power. I've experienced it, and when he works, you don't have to be begged. A hungry man don't have to be begged to eat. A man that's in captivity in a stinking dungeon in bondage does not have to be begged when the door is open and he's told to come out. He doesn't have to be begged. And God's people don't have to be begged to believe on Christ when he speaks in power and makes you know you are a sinner and he is salvation.

That's just so. All right, let's thank him. Lord, we thank you for your mercy and your grace. Thank you for your word. Thank you for being so powerful and sovereign that you work these things with David and the children of Israel and the Philistine enemies to give us pictures, just like you painted a picture for us so we can see how you operate, how you save, how yours is the glory in everything that you do in salvation. Lord, that's sovereignty. You could work something with real people, real nations, to give your people a picture. And Lord, make that word affectionate in our heart. Make us see Christ and know him and believe him and settle us to wait on him and trust him. And Lord, make your word go forth, save your people, In Christ's name we ask it, amen.