Please stand as we recite the Shema together.
The Shema
Hear O Israel!
The Lord is our God – the Lord Alone.
Love the Lord your God
With all your heart,
With all your soul,
And with all your might,
And love your neighbor as yourself. Amen.
Thank You Lord. You may be seated.

1 Sam 26:23+24, And the Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me from all distress." 
We have spent a little time in this passage which highlights the commitment that David held in his heart toward both The Lord, as well as for Saul, the first king of Israel. There was that within this young man that would not bring himself to usurp the throne of Saul, despite the fact that David had been anointed by Samuel and that Saul was actively seeking to kill him. 
David was holding true to the Lord’s Sovereignty. He tried to show Saul, on several occasions that he was not seeking to kill Saul and thus usurp the throne by the power of his own hand. David was content to leave it all to the Lord to do as Jehovah so ordained. 
We now look to the Word in a variety of passages which show us the true means of dealing with situations in which we always want to honor the Lord. This is even if it might appear that we could easily solve things by taking the course of action into our own hands. That was the decision that David faced more than once. His trust in the Lord was in full evidence, as is always to be the case with us. 
We can hear the heart of the man who was trying diligently not do something that would violate the way of the Lord. Please open to the Psalms, beginning with Ps 7:8+9.
Ps 7:8+9, The Lord judges the peoples; Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me. O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. 
There is that evident desire unto righteousness within this Psalm. As God is righteous, so do the people of the Lord need to be righteous in their behavior, attitude, demeanor, and thoughts. This does not mean that they will be perfect in every situation. But it does mean that it is imperative to have that desire and that integrity of spirit which seeks to always be honoring and upright in the course of our walk on this earth before God and before man. 
Next please consider the cry of the Psalmist in Ps 17:1-7. There is the evident realization that one cannot expect God to hear the prayers of those who practice deceit and violation against others. We know that God will ever hear the cry of repentance from the heart that desires to change and to live a life that is glorifying to Jehovah. 
As well, in the course of looking to the Lord and seeking to honor Him, the voice of those who go through the worst of situations will also be heard by the Lord. There will be that divine response of love and mercy and comfort and grace and power to see them through it all.
Ps 17:1-7, Hear a just cause, O Lord, give heed to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. Let my judgment come forth from Thy presence; Let Thine eyes look with equity. Thou hast tried my heart; Thou hast visited me by night; Thou hast tested me and dost find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. As for the deeds of men, by the word of Thy lips I have kept from the paths of the violent. My steps have held fast to Thy paths. My feet have not slipped. I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt answer me, O God; Incline Thine ear to me, hear my speech. Wondrously show Thy lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Thy right hand From those who rise up against them. 
There is that complete assurance declared that God will show forth His attentive listening to those who call out to Him in the trials and the tribulations. He will respond with all His loving-kindness. He will be the refuge of those who trust in Him and obey Him and desire for His honor to be the paramount testimony of their lives. 
We are not talking perfect obedience in terms of how Jesus, as a man, obeyed the every precept in the manifested divine guidance of His Heavenly Father. He is the only man who could and would successfully fulfill the Law to the complete satisfaction of God’s heart. 
No, we know that we will err on occasion. However, our desire and our commitment is that we will obey the Lord more and more perfectly as each opportunity is presented. We want to have that heart like David, who, when the opportunities to take matters into his own hands were presented, for the most part, obeyed and honored the Lord.
His was the righteousness of a dedicated heart of love unto Jehovah. David’s steps were set on that which would bring glory and the witness of the goodness of Yahweh to those who would watch and see how much David truly loved the precepts and the praise and the adoration of Jehovah with all his heart. That is what we are to desire with all our hearts.
We proceed forward with this walk unto that which pleases and honors God as detailed in Ps 18:20-26. This is the description of how God responds to those who are desirous that all would come to Him and call out to Him and honor Him and adore Him in the glory of His awesome presence. God deals with us in the terms of how we present ourselves in our walk on this earth. 
Ps 18:20-26. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His ordinances were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me. I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes. With the kind Thou dost show Thyself kind; With the blameless Thou dost show Thyself blameless; With the pure Thou dost show Thyself pure; And with the crooked Thou dost show Thyself astute. 
We are not perfect in any measure, but there should be that distinct difference that being a child of God shows forth. Those watching our steps, even those desiring to see us fall miserably, should witness the absolute manner of the truth that it matters to us how God sees us as we live our lives moment by moment. They will thus recognize that the Lord is working on our behalf as we are walking in the manner which honors and pleases Him. Even as we stumble, they will see how He picks us up and carries us forward in the course of our living relationship with Him.
The Psalmist then makes a most perceptive declaration which should ring true in our minds and spirits and hearts. In two very concise verses, Ps 25:21+22, there is the reality of how much we need to order our walk before others as the manner that would bring glory and praise to God Most High. 
Ps 25:21+22, Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for Thee. Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all his troubles. 
The entirety of the plan and purpose of God is wrapped up in the manner in which humanity responds to and makes the free and deliberate choice to live in accordance to the way that God directs! This is not a matter of being forced into anything. It is the reality that when we choose to honor Jehovah as the every source of our integrity, uprightness, righteousness, and holiness, we are taught the same in the manner in which we deal with other people. Our walk that honors God will also show forth in the course of our dealings with those whom He brings into our lives. 
This becomes the heart of our stipulated walk with God as we wait on Him. We trust in Him. We desire to see His hand in action in all His faithfulness and His loving-kindness as He so perfectly redeems His people unto Himself. 
It is as we hold true to God, as we wait for Him to do that which He has deemed necessary, that we will come to know Him in the greater measure as the very Sustainer and Maintainer of our lives. Consider the fact that David waited for the Lord to do that which would establish the kingdom of Israel as the Lord so planned and purposed. 
David refused to take the matters into his own hand. He rather waited patiently and expectantly and obediently for the Lord. He watched diligently and expectantly for Jehovah to do that which was necessary to bring the twelve tribes together into the manifested nation of Israel, completely united under the throne of David. 
This was not just for the short breadth of two generations of David’s heritage, but for eternity through the lineage of David as established in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of all who call upon His name.
This is the course of what God was establishing as David waited for Jehovah to put him on the throne, rather than taking it by force either in the cave or in the camp of Saul. David kept his integrity of heart and uprightness of spirit before the Lord ever before the men with whom he traveled and hid in the caves and the wadis and the encampments of the Philistines. His was the witness that he knew that the Lord God Almighty, the One to Whom David owed utmost allegiance would prove Himself always!
The Prophet Isaiah, in Isa 54:17, adds to this confident assurance that the Lord has all things well in hand. There is no reason to try to shortcut or circumvent the work and the power and the might and the wisdom of God. We are to trust Him and see His salvation and His vindication come into place through no means of ourselves. Our lives are lived unto Him. We wait before Him in the full knowledge that there is nothing of this realm that can thwart His Hand or be used to remove us from His hands.
Isa 54:17, "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me," declares the Lord. 
Notice that this is our heritage as the children of God. He is working, ever and wonderfully and faithfully and omnipotently working on behalf of those who trust in Him. As our hearts are so set upon that which will manifest the truth of God in the midst of the chaos and the vile underpinnings of this age, we are cognizant that our lives are secure for all of eternity. 
This world may well put us to physical death, as it has done so many who belong to the Lord, and even Jesus Himself on the cross. All that truly means is that our short sojourn on this earth, away from the immediate glory of our heavenly family is over. We are brought through to the reality that all of eternity, which is ours to enjoy even today, is still before us in the relationship of love and peace and joy and utmost magnificence by the glorious resurrection power of Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father. 
Therefore, we are not to fret and fear and worry and give into impatience and anxiety. He will show His awesome Omnipotence, and Omniscience, and Omnipresence in the course of every passing moment as we learn to wait for Him and trust Him and obey Him. 
We close this morning with the glorious encouragement that is ours as detailed by the Apostle Paul in Rom 8:35-39. We have read this over and over again. Each time brings forth that rest-filled knowledge that what is stated so forcefully is the truth of our walk together with Christ Jesus!
Because we love Him and trust Him and count on Him, an utterly new relationship has become our heritage. We are loved by Our Heavenly Father and we are sealed by the wonderful and guiding presence of the Holy Spirit. The full unfathomable immensity of the God-head is enveloping us with the magnificence of His perfect love and perfect peace. 
This is why we can walk on this earth, as did David, with the assurance that in the course of our honoring God, He will honor and sustain and provide all that is needed. We will be living witnesses of His faithfulness and His abiding presence. We do not have to try to make things happen through our limited and utterly meager human weakness and so feeble capacity of human understanding. No! We can count on God to prove Himself always and forever! 
Rom 8:35-39, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
It is in the Lord that we find all our deliverance and our salvation. There is nothing in all of the creation of God that can remove us from His loving-kindness and mercy and grace and joy and peace and redemption! He has done everything that was ever required to save us unto Himself! It is our place, through the immense love and honor and reverence that fills our heart unto Him, that we lovingly and manifestly obey and trust and declare His glory and His praise! This is the testimony of how we show our utmost allegiance and faithfulness in obedience unto Him! So be it.
And the Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me from all distress." Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Rom 8:31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Amen.