Verse by verse teaching - Daniel 6:6-8 "The Art of Influence"

Daniel chapter 6, verse 6 through 8 will be our text this morning. The title of the message is The Art of Influence The art of influence. You can learn so much from God's Word. That's why it's so important that we just don't gloss over the stories, just run through them I was talking to a pastor one time who was teaching through the book of the Revelation to his church I said, what is going to be your text Sunday morning? Or what was your text Sunday morning? I saw him that following Monday. And he said, well, I I had this chapter, this chapter, and this chapter I taught on. And I said, oh, because normally we would have a verse or two, maybe three at the most. And he said, I'm just hitting the high points. And uh I tell you what, if you all you do is hit the high points, then you're gonna have a very shallow congregation. They're not going to have deep theology. And we want us to have to dig deep into God's Word and drink from the the the waters best the deeper you go, you know So Daniel 6, verse 68, in our study last week we learned that King Darius, who was a mead, thought to put Daniel over the entire realm of the former kingdom of Babylon that he had just conquered. And many of the political leaders uh who would be under Daniel's authority. Remember there were 120 princes and three presidents. Daniel was one of those three presidents that were over the 120 princes And all those political leaders, they didn't want Daniel to be over them. They didn't want him to be in charge. Probably because they took bribes and things like that, and they didn't want Danny to mess up their good deal. So they tried to find some law Something that Daniel was breaking so they could uh accuse him of it before the king and get him fired. And so uh the problem was Daniel was a law-abiding citizen. Daniel did everything like the law said, and like them. He was faithful, and they couldn't catch him doing anything wrong. So they figured, we learned last week, that the only way they would be able to bring a charge against Daniel was if they created a new law A law that would somehow conflict with Daniel's religion. Daniel 6. 5 says, Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. So these political leaders got together and came up with a scheme to talk to Darius and to get Darius to enact a new law. A law that would, by virtue of Daniel's faithfulness to God, make Daniel a criminal. For example, I type all of my sermon notes on a computer. They then get transferred onto my iPad. And then I have my notes on my iPad here as I'm preaching to you. So if I'm obeying the laws of the United States, I'm a good model citizen. But if someone wanted to get me in trouble All they would have to do is create a new law that made it illegal to store Christian literature on an electronic device. Boom, I'm now a criminal. Make it retroactive. You've got me. I'm now a criminal. Because of my service to God. I would then be guilty of a criminal offense. And the the problem was these political leaders didn't live in a democratic nation, though. They lived in a kingdom. And what did that mean? That means they couldn't make the law up The king had to enact the law. So they they couldn't just whip up a new law and then go arrest Daniel for breaking it. They had to persuade the king that he needed to make this new law. And what they did to persuade the king is what people will do to persuade you. if you will let them. In our text this morning, we're going to see five steps to a very bad decision. Five steps to a very bad decision. Number one, a crowd. A crowd. Number two, a consensus. A consensus. C-O-N-S-E-N-S-U-S, a consensus. Number three, a compliment. A compliment. Number four, a conclusion. A conclusion. Now let's go ahead, now that we have that written down in your notes, let's go ahead and look in verse 6 and begin our study this morning. Then these presidents and princes assembled together. There's your crowd. We got 120 princes, three presidents Two of the three presidents want Daniel out of the picture. So we have at least 122 people. That's a pretty big crowd. All coming together to the king. It says, then these presents and princes assembled together to the king and said unto him, King Darius, live forever. Now underscore, these presidents and princes assemble together. These presidents and princes assemble together Big decisions are often made on account of big numbers. And we'll repeat that again. Big decisions Are often made on account of big numbers. Again, this was no small crowd. This was 122 uh highly uh uh respected men assembling together to put a strong but subtle pressure on King Darius. They didn't uh choose themselves or representatives. Uh they didn't say, well you know, you you're the best man for the job. You go talk to the king and try to get him to enact this law for us They didn't pick the best man from the crowd and send him. They came to subtly gang uh subtly gang up on King Darius and exert all the influence that they could The Chaldean word translated assembled here literally is defined as tumult. Tumult. And a tumult is a crowd of hostile or unruly people. And though this crowd didn't come in a hostile manner, they they could get in trouble for that. A big crowd is an intimidating force, wouldn't y'all agree? It's an intimidating force. So they're adding a lot of pressure to any decision that that crowd is seeking. They're putting that pressure on King Darius. No, I listen, no matter how powerful a king may seem to be. The his power to rule is found in his people. There's no doubt about it. Darius was the most powerful man in the kingdom But a king's ability to rule depends on the people's willingness to follow. If you have a man bark out orders and everyone just stands there. That didn't matter who that king is. So when he sees all of his political leaders, almost all of his political leaders, standing in front of him and they they're all uh coming to him for something He's probably swallowing and thinking really hard right now. Okay, uh this is a a new uh kingdom we have here. It's it's uh relatively new and and uh new realm and I've got to be very careful here. Let's listen to what they have to say. And uh and and and so uh those of us who attended for example the public school system We understand how influential a crowd can be, don't we? You're in there with a bunch of people your own age And why do wise parents always tell their children, don't follow what? Don't yeah, yeah, don't follow the crowd or don't get with the wrong crowd, but definitely don't follow the, don't just follow the crowd. Be an individual. Do what you know is right. But you know what disappointed teenagers always lament when their parents tell them they can't do it? You know what they always say? Everybody's doing it That's the crowd. That's the crowd. But you know what? When they grow up, do you know what they say if they made a mistake? They'll say, you know what? When I was young, I made a mistake by following the crowd By following the crowd. And chances are, if you're listening to this message this morning, then you have probably made a mistake before by following the crowd. I have. And perhaps the mistake you made was a big one. Could have been a big mistake. Well, don't be too hard on yourself. Do you know why? Even a king fears a crowd. That's what we learn from this message right here. Even a king fears a crowd. But as with these presidents and princes, most crowds aren't leading you in the direction that you should go And that's why we should always follow God instead of the crowd. In verse 6, we see a crowd. Now in verse 7, we see a consensus. They told King Darius, look in verse 7. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree. Underscore the word all. Now underscore the phrase, have consulted together. All have consulted together. In other words, King Darius, everybody agrees with what we are about to tell you. We are all in agreement about this, but everybody didn't agree. Why? Because Daniel didn't agree. Daniel was not there. This law was against Daniel. He sure wouldn't be there. And most probably Daniel didn't even know this meeting was taking place. Or he would have done something to run some interference. Since the king was wanting to put Daniel over the whole realm, he held more influence with the king than anybody. But the crowd shows up and they're saying, hey, we've all agreed on this And you know what? That's what the world will try to tell you too. Science tells us A, B, C, and D. Well, you know what? That's not true. Your science tells us that But not everybody's science tells us that. Uh there's a lot of cr good Christian scientists that'll tell you just the opposite. And the same with Daniel, as it was his one hundred and twenty two well, with plus the governors and all the others. uh that there was more than 122 that consulted together, but it looks like 122 that came before the king. But no matter how many consulted together Daniel was in the minority with the opposing view. It's the same with us. You're going to have fewer scientists that are going to oppose evolution. The devil's going to have more scientists that support it, right? You're going to have fewer weather people. uh uh who are going to uh uh den uh deny climate change. You're gonna have more meteorologists that promote the climate change hoax, right? It's always that way. So everybody didn't agree. And if the king would have only paused and thought this through, that he could have consulted Daniel and learned that not everybody agrees with the crowd. He could have heard the other view. We need to learn from that as well. They claim to be all in agreement, and anytime a consensus is reached by a person's inner circle, and this was the king's inner circle. Anytime a consensus is reached by a person's inner circle, doesn't matter if it's your friends, your co-workers at work that you're really, really close to, your support group. This is King Darius's support base. Your family, whoever it is, that's your support base. When a consensus is reached with your base I'm telling you, more often than not, people will tend to agree with their inner circle, unless they appear to be ignorant or difficult to get along with. Why? Because they need their support. That's what happens. That's human nature. And the devil knows it. Look how the devil used a large crowd of false prophets that had reached a consensus together. On the matter of Israel going to war against Ramoth Gilead, it's in 1 Kings 22, verses 5 and 6. It says, And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men. Look at that. Let me ask you something. If I get up here and I tell you the truth, is it any more true if 200 more people tell you what I told you? Is it any less true if I'm the only one that says it? The truth is the truth, no matter how many people are speaking. Why do they need 400 prophets? Because it's a lie. And a lot of times what the devil will do, what he can't give you in truth, he will make up in volume. Make sense? What he lacks in truth, he makes up in volume. In other words, if I whisper the truth to you, That truth is just as true as if I were to shout it to you. But since he doesn't have the truth, he'll shout a lie very dogmatically. And if you shout a lie very dogmatically, I remember when I was a kid, I'd listen to people, and if they got up and they appeared very confident when they spoke, And very passionate about it, I assume they must know what they're talking about. Brother Doug, I grew up and learned they don't know what they're talking about. I love it. I love it when the politicians get up and they get the news media up there and they get all these people behind them. They don't want to just get up there by themselves. They want all these people behind them as if we've reached a consensus. And they'll get up and they'll be all dogmatic and this is it's all a lie. All a lie. So 400 prophets gathered together. It said, now that's the crowd. The 400 prophets is the crowd. And said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle? They're asking these 400 prophets. Or shall I forbear? Shall I not go to battle? And they said, that is the 400 prophets said, go up For the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. That's the consensus. So the crowds, the 400, the consensus is the unified voice. The unified answer that they're giving that king. And you know what? It was a lie. And they got clobbered when they went out to war. There was one man that came and told them the truth. They didn't listen to the one prophet that was telling them the truth. And these presidents and princes, they told King Darus, we've all reached a consensus, O King. Put back in your text in verse 7. That whosoever, this is their consensus they've agreed on, whosoever shall ask a petition Or that is, make a request of any God, that's where they're going to get Darius. Or man, they threw that in just to make it look like they're trying to be fair. But it's really about they're not wanting Daniel to pray to God. Whoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, ex save thee, that is, except you, O King. He shall be cast into the den of lions. That's where they want Daniel to go. They want him to get caught praying to his God. So they can have him cast into the den of lines. They said we all agree that whoever shall ask a petition Whoever shall pray to any God or men except you, for thirty days shall be cast into a den of lions. And look at the first word in verse seven, and notice the word all Everybody agrees, King. And this is what influences the young people. Everybody is doing it. But if you've been following the story the past few weeks here in the book of Daniel, Then you know again that all the presidents and princes did not uh uh consult on this matter because Daniel was not there. But the crowd was so big And King Darius was so flattered by the moment that he apparently didn't notice. And that brings us to the next step. We've seen the crowd. We've seen the consensus, and now we see the compliment that's paid. King Darius, we don't want anyone to pray to anybody but you for 30 days. You Did you know that every single month of the year in the United States, every single month is designated as some kind of awareness month? Did you know that They are every one of them, Brother Doug. Yeah. I'll tell you what, I'll give them, I'll give you the months and the awarenesses you're supposed to have, and you and your wife can use that for devotions at night That way y'all can make sure you're aware of everything that you need to be aware of. I tell you, May, this month is mental health awareness month Next month is Pride Month. How about that? These men are flattering King Darius. That's what they're doing. They're saying, hey, let's proclaim this month King Darius Month. We we have a mayor in Athens. He that man loves to make proclamations. I'm telling you, every time doesn't he? Every time I see a newsletter from Athens, he's making a proclamation. This is Such and such day, or this is such and such week, or this is such and such month. He loves making proclamations. That's what they wanted. Let's make a pro this is going to be King Darius Month. And for 30 days The only person that can be prayed to or petitioned is you. You're going to be set apart from all the other gods and all the other people. And so they're flattering the king. We the people hereby declare this month to be King Darius Month, and we ask that you make a law commanding everyone this month to pray to you alone for the help they need. And boy, how flattering they were. How can you deny that law? They brought the crowd. They announced the consensus They paid him the compliment. They were grooming him to make one of the biggest royal blunders of his career as a king. And that brings us to our next step, the conclusion. That is the conclusion the king made. They said, verse 8, now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing. I can just picture them as they're saying, now King, I just picture them taking their pen out and having the paper in front of them. Now King, establish the cree and sign the writing right here. Come on, come on, come on. Here you go. All the 120-something people behind him. That one fella, come on, come on. Sign it This is for you. This would be good. Man, I tell you what, young people, you're gonna have a lot of things to sign in your life. Old people, you still gonna have things aside in your life. You better learn this right now When you got someone putting pressure on you to sign something, you better look out. You How many of y'all have ever gone to buy a new car, or a used car even, at a dealership How many of y'all, when you were at the dealership, and I almost say this in a laughing way, how many of y'all felt pressured? to sign the paper. It's a lot of folks. A lot of folks. That's why a lot of folks, they don't want to go buy a new car. Or they won't take someone with them to do take the pressure for them and help them out a little bit with it, which may be a good idea. But that's what they were doing. They noticed the word now. Now, O King Establish the decree and sign the writing. These men want to strike while the iron is hot. I had someone come over to my house one time. And they were trying to sell me a Kirby, no, it was a rainbow, a rainbow vacuum cleaner. I tell you what, it started off. It started off with one salesman in my living room. All he was going to do was a little demonstration, gonna give me a free gift. Wasn't interested if I bought it or not. He just needed a little tick mark to show he was trying to trying to sell. It started off like that. By the time I got through, his supervisor's over there in my driveway, his supervisor's in my house, and they are putting some serious pressure on me They were acting like they were offended because I wasn't buying this rainbow vacuum cleaner for an astronomical amount of money. And I told them, I said, I tell you what. Let me think about it. Let me look around and check prices How do you what do you think they thought about that? Oh no. Do you know why? They knew if I had chance to think about it, there's no way I'd turn loose that much money for a little sucking machine And you know what? And I didn't. I didn't. But you know what? Do you know why they do it like that? Because there are a lot of people who will. And that's how they made their living. And these people were trying to strike while the iron was hot. They wanted the king to act before he had time to think. And that's what people will do when they're trying to persuade you. They'll want you to act before you have time to think. And you know what? Sadly. Sadly, that's what a lot of pastors do too. There are a lot of pastors that'll be in church this morning and they're going to be preaching hot and heavy. about hell, about sin. And when they get through, they're going to have musicians come up and play stirring emotional music. They're going to have a singer up here singing stirring emotional music. And the pastor's going to try to get someone to come down to this these steps that they call an altar. And get them to pray a prayer, make a commitment, whatever they call it, and they'll try their best to make sure that they know That this needs to be done before they walk out the doors or this needs to be done before the service ends. But you know something? They're trying to get someone to make the biggest decision of their life. Within a few moments down here in front of everybody. That's not how God works. That is the pressure of men. Trying to get someone to make a decision that is spiritual and eternal in the heart. And you know what happens? Because of that pressure, there's a lot of people who later Make the decision all out of the pressure and later they realize it was the wrong decision. It was the wrong decision. You know what they'll do? A lot of the people? They'll come back down a second time down here and try it again. Because it didn't work the first time, they don't think. They must have done something wrong. They'll try to figure it out, or they'll end up leaving the church and never coming back. That's why we have this Genesis to Jesus class. That's why we invite people to talk, to make sure that when they make that decision To put their trust in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, they do it intellectually. In other words, they understand fully what they're doing. They do it intentionally. It's a decision they made. That the Holy Spirit convinced their heart to believe on God's Son rather than me and the instruments and everyone else putting pressure to try to get them down here and do what some altar workers try to get them to do. in the name of keeping them from going to hell. Well, I I've preached in churches before and I said, how many of y'all ever come down here to the front and pray to sinner's prayer to be saved? Raise your hands. And a bunch of them all over, raise their hands. I say, hey, maybe y'all ever done that more than once. All over. People raise their hands. People raise their hands. Let me ask y'all this morning, how many of y'all in your lifetime, any time in your lifetime have ever said a sinner's prayer to be saved? How many of y'all ever prayed that prayer more than once? Look at that. Look at it. That's what I'm talking about. Exactly what I'm talking about. The Bible shows us how decisions are to be made and how they're not to be made. King Darius was about to make a very bad decision. They wanted him to act before he had time to think Go ahead, King. Establish the decree. Come on. Get your pen. And sign the writing. King Darius, again, was about to make a bad decision because he was making it under pressure. Unless you're in an emergency situation, meaning you're at the hospital and someone has to make a decision on a surgery or something like that. You should never sign your name on something before you have time to pray and think it through. Listen to this. Pray and think it through at your house when you are alone or with a trusted family member. Don't sign it. If a person is rushing you to sign your name on a document, then rest assured that document is going to benefit them, not you. If they're trying to rush you to sign a document, that document's going to benefit them, not you. If I'm truly, if I truly care, Brother Doug, I use you as an example all the time Gabriel, I'm gonna use you now. I'm gonna give Brother Doug a rest. If I truly care about Gabriel, and decision and here's one right here. By my wife and I uh my wife had someone call her the other day because uh she wanted some advice on finances and she knew that uh I'd helped her before on a financial decision. And she wanted to buy an annuity. And so my wife came into my office. I got on the phone with that woman, and I made sure she understood everything. And you know what? If she didn't want to sign that document, I don't care. Why? I was getting nothing out of it. It was taking time out of my day to help her. Go through this process. I had suggested the annuity to her in the past. And then weeks later. Months later, this will be her second one now. She made the decision to do it. I never called her and asked her. I never pressured her. I didn't care Why, it means no no matter to me. I want her to do what's best for her. But now on the other hand, if I say now now now Ruthie, that's her name. Now Ruthie We need to get this done today now. Let's go ahead. And someone said, well, I want to think of it. Well now, can you tell me a reason? Why this shouldn't be done right now? Why would you why would you not do this right now? How many of y'all, when you are trying to buy something or you're looking at possibly buying something? Have y'all noticed this If you're looking online about possibly buying something, a lot of times they'll have a discount up there and they'll have a little time clock clicking down. Do you know why they do that? They want you to make a decision and act before you have time to think. If you have to act and be the clock, that person is going to benefit from the decision you're making more than you are. If I see that time clock click, I'm done with you. I'm done with you. I don't want to be put under pressure. And so they wanted him to act before he had time to think. If a person's rushing you to sign a document, go home. Seek God. Pray about it Not only were these politicians trying to get King Darius to sign their identity law, but they wanted him to make it So look back in your text, that it be not changed. Look at that, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. In other words, they're trying to get them to make a decision that once this decision was made, it could not be undone. And there's some decisions just like that. Now, if you're buying an annuity, there's a lot of people who've been pressured buying financial doc buying financial uh instruments, financial products. And they end up, oh, I'll give you a good one. Here's a good one right here. Time shares. How many of y'all have ever been I'm not going to ask if anyone's bought one, I don't embarrass anybody. How many of y'all have ever been to a timeshare sales pitch? I have two How many of y'all felt pressured during the timeshare sales pitch? I did too. I was pressured. Thank God I didn't buy it. In fact, when I showed up, I told that salesman, I said, sir, let's get one thing straight. I'm here because y'all advertise and give me a prize. I come to get it. I'm not buying anything from you. So the quicker we get this over with The quicker you can get to some fellow that may buy it from you. And you know what? I took their prize and I didn't they didn't get squat from me But that's another one right there. They want you to act before you think. They want to put a time limit on it. They want to count down. And now once you sign that document on that timeshare, you're stuck. You're stuck. And maybe if you go through some kind of legal course or whatever, man, what a stress that is But there's some decisions that once you sign, they can't be undone. Once you sign a document financing a car, once you sign a document financing a house, you're done You're stuck with those 80 payments on a vehicle. You're stuck making these payments on your house. You better Make sure before you do something that you can't undo that you're doing what's right. And I'm going to give you a couple of ways to understand and uh and hopefully work through this. But they want it to be undone. The financial product, like an annuity, do you know what a lot of laws, a lot of states laws are? There's a 30-day window A cooling off period because there have been so many people get stuck and then not have any money because their their money is all tied up in the product and they don't they can't live day to day. So the law of the politicians have had to step in because of the pressure and say, look, if you buy this, you gotta let these people know they got 30 days to to cool off from the pressure and to say, man, I have buyer's remorse. I want out And once that 30 days is done, you're stuck. But right here, they want the king stuck. They want it to be so that it cannot be undone. Now, I want you to pay close attention. This is one of the things that's going to help you Pay close attention now in the scripture between the benefit of this law and the consequence of this law. There's a benefit to the decision the king's about to make, and there's a consequence to the decision the king's about to make. The benefit of this law was for the king to be honored for 30 days. The consequence of this law was for the violator to be killed permanently. You see the disparity or the difference between the benefit And the consequence of the decision the king's about to make. Here's something that you can take home with you. Never exchange a long-term consequence for a short-term benefit. Never exchange a long-term consequence for a short-term benefit. Boy, well Brother Richard, what kind of permanent decision should we make then? I'm going to give you a good example. When I was in my 20s, after I had many months, And years, in fact, to think about it, to pray about it, to study on it, so I can make an informed decision and know exactly what I was doing. The decision would be my own I made a permanent decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Savior. That's irreversible, Brother Doug. Not according to the laws of the Messi and Persian, but according to the law of the kingdom of God and the gospel that he for whom he foreknew them he also called. And the gifts and calling of God, the Bible says are without repentance, God never changes his mind on it I made a permanent, unchangeable decision. I made the decision once and for all eternity to stake my soul's hope Upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That was a permanent decision. You know what? That permanent decision comes with permanent benefits. Never exchange long-term consequence for short, short-term benefit. If someone's trying to get you to make a long-term decision, ask yourself this question. Does this decision need to be made today If it's a long-term consequence, you're going to have five, six years of car payments. You're going to have 30 years of house payments at a certain price. You're gonna have whatever. Once you make a tattoo, whatever. Once you make this decision that has long-term or irreversible consequences, Gender transition surgery. You can detransition all you want to, it's not going to undo the damage. Not the emotional scarring, not the it's not gonna undo it. So ask yourself this question before you make This decision, that's long term. Ask yourself, do I need to make this decision today? And if not, then you wait And you pray before you make a long-term or irreversible decision. Ask yourself another question Does this decision even need to be made? Do I even need to make this decision? Do you know why? King Darius was getting along just fine before these folks showed up. He was enjoying, man, kingdoms flourishing. Look at Daniel over here, man of the third of the kingdom. Boy, he he's really flourish. I think I may put Daniel over all of it. Man, we'll just we'll just flourish over the whole ram and and he he he's thinking, boy, this is going real well. Then these fellas show up. Because they got an ulterior motive. And he gets caught up in the pressure. And you know what? If he didn't make the decision and said, you know what, I'm not going to make the law or I'm just not going to, I'm not even going to worry about this. Y'all guys go. I don't even want to think about this. He didn't have to make a decision. Then he would have been in the same wonderful position he was before they came. But now if he makes a decision, he runs the risk of messing up everything that he's enjoying at this time. Everything. I remember one time when I was young in a new home. I had a a uh a burner on my stove that was out. And uh I didn't have a whole lot of money, you know, had a bunch of kids and not a bunch of money A lot of y'all have been in that situation too. And the burner went out on my stove. I thought, well, I guess I should go around and try to, you know, maybe find another burner. And then someone suggested, well Wonder what the price of a of a new stove would be and just replace the whole stove, get all new burners. Well, I started looking at the price of a stove. And next thing you know, I'm I'm I'm I'm looking at all these different brands and the different costs, and I'm thinking Okay, and now how am I going to afford this? And I'm all pressured into maybe getting the stove and then suddenly reality caught up with me. You know what the reality was? I didn't have a whole lot of money, but I had three good burners. That was the reality. We were eating fine before. We can still keep eating fine. Timmy and I went with three burners for a long time, several years. I finally broke down, bought a new burner. I installed it myself. You knew where it was from? From China. But I bought a new burner. And but reality caught me. I don't even have to make this decision. We still got three good burners, and you know what? I can always just replace the burner if I need to. And then the pressure just went away And so ask yourself this question, what would happen if I didn't even decide? Can I just leave this matter alone? King Darius's life was good. And if your life is fine without taking any action, there's probably no need for you to act. And church, after reading this amazing story and gleaning the wisdom From this book and these scriptures, based because King Darius made the wrong decision, we're going to find out next week. He fell to the pressure, and it was a big blunder that he made And aren't you glad that you have a Bible? There's a lot you can learn from other men's mistakes, and that's why God recorded those mistakes in His Word, so you and I could read them. Learn, tuck that knowledge away, and then go act wisely. Father, we thank you so much for your precious word. Thank you, Father, for giving us sound practical wisdom with real-world examples. that hold real world consequences. And let your servants, I pray, take your word. And go and do according to as we're instructed. They will walk in the wisdom of our God and not like the people of this world. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.