2 Sam 21:14, And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that God was moved by entreaty for the land. 
	In this morning’s reading, we are brought face to face, once again, with the fact that God will not brook that which is done in His name, but is not from Him. So often, leaders of nations, leaders of communities, leaders of churches, as well as other individuals who will put forth an agenda with the label that it was directed by God. They will promote those actions which they want to do, all the while attaching the name of the Lord to it in order to gather the support from those who are so duped into the action designated unto them.
	Even after King Saul was killed in battle, there was the remnant of an evil which he committed in the name of The Lord, which needed to be set aright. Accordingly God with held back the rain that would water the land of the nation of Israel for three years. After those, who were so foully treated by Saul, were recognized as being falsely attacked, and given the recourse of that action upon the family of Saul and his children, the name of God was cleared from that stain of being so foully besmirched by King Saul. King David did what was necessary to bring back honor to the name of Jehovah, while at the same time setting aright that which was so far off kilter. 
	In response to this obedience to the direction of God, the drought, that had plagued the land for three years, came to an end. It was the action of The Lord Almighty which brought forth the rain, once again, upon the land of the inheritance of Israel. 
This was not the first time that God had to get the attention of His nation by withholding the water from heaven which brings forth life on this earth. It was also not the first time that it was necessary for His people to take the stand that God was to be honored above all. This was even if it meant that there had to be a cleansing before the nation of those who were guilty of leading the people of God astray, and so casting aspersions and evil dishonor upon the name of Jehovah.
	Please turn back in your Bibles to Ex 32:26-29. This is one of those pivotal moments in the history of the people of God. It took place at the time in which they were learning Who God was and what was necessary to be honoring to Him. If you will recall, Moses was on the mountain of the Lord for an extended period of time, receiving the Word of God to bring back to the people. They had lost their way and were being lead to worship the molten calf of their own creation. Thus they were giving honor and praise and adoration to an idol of their own making and forsaking The God of their deliverance. 
	When Moses returned with the tablets of the Lord’s Word, he was aghast with what the people had done in their adulterous actions and behavior before the very presence of the Lord God Almighty. That activity needed to be dealt with immediately and with utmost clarity of purpose and cleansing of the cancerous growth of that abhorrent, sinful, and utterly disgusting action.
	Ex 32:26-29, then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.'" So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, "Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord — for every man has been against his son and against his brother — in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today." 
	This blasphemous idolatry was continually characteristic of that first generation of Israelites. No matter how long they had to march around the mountain of The Lord, steeped in the goodness and the mercy and the provision and the protection of Jehovah, they still bore in their hearts that revolting desire to be like the nation of Egypt, from which they had been released. 
They looked to the nations around them, rather than to the Lord and His precepts. They desired to be just like the other nations, faithlessly dabbling with the craving to serve the idols of man, rather than the Word of God.
	This was evidenced at the point where those few, remaining, first generation Israelites finally provoked the Lord to deal with their treachery, putting to death all of those parents except Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. This is detailed in Numbers Chapter 25, as that disloyal remnant once more played the harlot with the gods of Moab. That detestable carousing was finally stopped by Phinehas as he took the stand that no one would so dishonor the Holiness of God.
	In Numbers 25:10-13, we have the response of God to the action of this man who would not allow the place of God to become like the temples of the heathen people who so provoked this harlotry. Thus the last of the first generation died in the desert  freeing the Lord to bring His people into their inheritance in the Promised Land. 
	Num 25:10-13, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, 'Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the sons of Israel.'" 
	In Job 37:10-13, we are presented with a declaration of the fact that all the weather of our necessity to live on this earth proceeds from The Lord. He created the heavens and the earth and He maintains it with the movement of the commands from His mouth. Every drop of water, every gust of wind, every cloud of the sky is in place only because God so deigns it to be.
	Job 37:10-13, "From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen. "Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. "And it changes direction, turning around by His guidance, That it may do whatever He commands it On the face of the inhabited earth. "Whether for correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen. 
	God is the One Who causes all the forces of nature to respond to that which is His determination in the course of the supply, or lack of supply of that which waters this land. God has and continues to withhold even the drops of water as a means of causing humanity to recognize and turn to Him in obedience as the course of our walk on this earth. "Whether for correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen. 
	We know this, as well, from Rom 8:28. Rom 8:28, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Even droughts and floods and other natural disasters are used by God to accomplish His will and purpose in the lives of those whom He has called unto Himself. 
Many are those who, in their utter desperation at the threat of losing their very lives, call out to God to be their salvation. Many are those Christians who, facing such terrible ordeals, show to others the difference that being a Child of the Most High makes in the course of dealing with everything in that confident assurance that God has all things well in hand.
	As well, many are the times that those who belong to God, who had turned their back on the straight and narrow path, were brought back to it through the provision of God in such times of hardship, drought, misery, and earthly turmoil. God uses it all unto His plan and His purpose in the lives of His people. All things are in His hands to do and to will according to what it serves to work in the hearts and lives of His precious and beloved children.
	This is highlighted for us throughout the Word of God as He works to deal with those hearts which are self-seeking and self-centered rather than looking out for the testimony of The Lord. His people are to show forth the witness of Who God is with all the obedient and reverent unfolding of His precepts and ordinances. 
One such distinct detailing of how God uses the natural elements, or lack thereof to turn back the hearts of His people led astray by those who abuse His glorious name, is set in Jer 14:1-9. Please turn to it in your Bibles.
Jer 14:1-9, That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah in regard to the drought: "Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They sit on the ground in mourning, And the cry of Jerusalem has ascended. "And their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their vessels empty; They have been put to shame and humiliated, And they cover their heads. "Because the ground is cracked, For there has been no rain on the land; The farmers have been put to shame, They have covered their heads. "For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young, Because there is no grass. "And the wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyes fail For there is no vegetation. "Although our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, act for Thy name's sake! Truly our apostasies have been many, We have sinned against Thee. "Thou Hope of Israel, Its Savior in time of distress, Why art Thou like a stranger in the land Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night? "Why art Thou like a man dismayed, Like a mighty man who cannot save? Yet Thou art in our midst, O Lord, And we are called by Thy name; Do not forsake us!" 
It took such a holding back of the rain and the water from heaven in order to cause His people to return to honor and to obey Him as a witness to the nations of Who God is. His mercy to His people is seen as He provides and protects and manifests His shalom and loves within the hearts of His chosen people. He will do what He knows it will take to cause His children to once again seek Him and His loving kindness and His mercy and His salvation in the honoring of His Holy Name.
Consider this as we read together Jer 32:17-20. Jer 32:17-20, 'Ah Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and by Thine outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for Thee, who showest lovingkindness to thousands, but repayest the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The Lord of hosts is His name; great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds…. 
	The Prophet Joel presents the manifested heart of one who was seeking only the glory and the praise of Jehovah within the obedience and the service of those who know Him. Please consider how Joel shows in Joel 2:17-19, that concern for the witness of God’s testimony that will be seen as Jehovah works to make His people once again the recipients of the lavished storehouses of Heaven’s blessing. 
Joel 2:17-19, Let the priests, the Lord's ministers, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Spare Thy people, O Lord, And do not make Thine inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, 'Where is their God?'" Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, And will have pity on His people. And the Lord will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations. 
	Another example of how God shows Himself mighty to save on the behalf of those who only come to know Him in the midst of their dread of the calamity that is tossing them to and fro, is Jonah. In the passage we will read together, Jonah 1:11-16, we have that terrible storm that was threatening to sink the ship Jonah was using to run away from the call of God to go to Nineveh. Those seasoned sailors, who did not know the only True and Living Lord God Almighty, were in desperate straits and sought a way to be saved, even at the dreadful cost of throwing Jonah overboard. Please note, in our reading, what happened when God calmed the sea as they prayed out for forgiveness from the death they thought they had wrought.
	Jonah 1:11-16, So they said to him, "What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?" — for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you." However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. Then they called on the Lord and said, "We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for Thou, O Lord, hast done as Thou hast pleased." So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 
	The Prophet Haggai, in Hag 1:3-11, details, once again, how the Lord uses the natural elements of our every day life to get our attention. The House of the Lord was being neglected and dishonored and the priestly lineage was not even remotely concerned. 
As a result, the Lord brought extreme frustration to their lack of effort on behalf of His witness in their midst. He caused the work of their hands and the sweat of their brows to come to nothing. They toiled and they labored and the result was absolute dearth of everything because they cared nothing for Who God was and the house that declared His preeminence and presence in their midst.  
	Hag 1:3-11, Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying, "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?" Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways! "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes." Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways! "Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the Lord. "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the Lord of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. "Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. "And I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands." 
	We close this morning, as we began, with a severe caution against those who would try to lead astray the people of the Lord. Please turn to 2 Tim 3:1-9. God will make Himself known to those who seek Him. It may mean that our seeking is a result of great difficulty and turmoil and even natural disaster. Through it all, The Lord will prove Himself mighty to save and to direct and to establish His truth in the midst of those whom He has called unto Himself at great peril to any who would try to abuse His Holy name.
	2 Tim 3:1-9, But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, as also that of those two came to be. 
	It is our place, in the midst of the strife and the turmoil and the despicable abuse of the holiness of God’s wondrous and awesome name, to hold to Him at all costs! As we live those lives which proclaim the goodness and the righteousness of God, even in the midst of disaster and utmost strife, we must be so very careful to never allow ourselves to turn away, or be led away from Him and His glory! He will prove Himself mighty to save and ready to heal us. The work of our hands will bear that fruit which brings praise and adoration unto Him, no matter what! So be it!
And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that God was moved by entreaty for the land. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Heb 12:1+2. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Amen.