The Power of God's Mercy, Part 2 - 1 Samuel 7:8-15

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The Promises of the New Covenant, Part 3 – Hebrews 8:12

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Well this morning we are in 1 Samuel chapter 7 and we will be picking up where we left off in verse 7.

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So we will be continuing through verse actually 17.

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So let's begin with prayer before we start examining this text.

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Heavenly Father we just thank you this morning and praise you as we celebrate this time of year the birth of the

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Lord Jesus Christ and what that represents as he became a man and lived a sinless life and suffered and died for all those who were turned to him in repentance and salvation.

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We thank you for your son, we thank you Lord for your Holy Spirit and we thank you for your word and Lord we pray this morning that you would be glorified as we gather and we celebrate together collectively and praise our

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Lord. We pray that you would be glorified through teaching, through the songs, the hymns and through the preaching of your word.

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We just want to give you praise this morning in Jesus' precious name and may you guide us through this that we may have greater understanding of who you are and what you have done.

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In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So let's begin just for context back in verse 7.

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Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of the

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Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it, they were afraid.

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They were afraid of the Philistines. Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, do not cease to cry to the

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Lord our God for us that he may save us from the hand of the

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Philistines. Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for the whole burnt off sacrifice offering to the

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Lord. And Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel and the Lord answered him.

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Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel.

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But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the

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Philistines and confused them so that they were routed before Israel.

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The men of Israel went out to Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them down as far as below Bethkar.

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Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shem and he named it

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Ebenezer. Thus far the Lord has helped us.

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So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel and the hand of the

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Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The cities which the

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Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel from Ekron to Gath and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the

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Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

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Now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He used to go annually on a circuit to Bethel, to Gilgal and to Mizpah and he judged

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Israel in all these places. Then his return was to Ramah for his house was there and there he judged

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Israel and built there an altar to the Lord. So as we look at this text we're going to see the miraculous hand of our

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Lord bringing victory to the Philistines. So last week we called, when

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Samuel called the people of Israel to seek the Lord in repentance the

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Philistines were to receive the word of the assembly in Mizpah.

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So what had happened they either had a spy or somebody watching the

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Israelites to see where they were and now Samuel had called them.

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He brought them all to Mizpah. He was going to speak to them and call them to repentance and then offer a sacrifice to the

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Lord for victory over the Philistines. This time

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Samuel as their judge and leader would make a God honoring prayerful intercession on behalf of the

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Israelites to have victory over these Philistines. In verse 8 we read, then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, do not cease to cry out to the

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Lord our God for us that he may save us from the hands of the

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Philistines. The sons of Israel in their fear of the Philistines now entreated

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Samuel who was their judge. They came to him, they trusted him, they've known his history and they love

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Samuel. Samuel was now their judge and the leader over Israel.

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This was the proper response to these Israelites. Even though they feared the

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Philistines they were still going to go up against them. Remember they've had two previous battles earlier.

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As we read earlier we see that 4 ,000 were killed in battle, the first battle.

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The second battle 30 ,000 foot soldiers were slaughtered and what happened?

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They retreated. Israel retreated every man to his tent. So the

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Philistines they had done brought such a great slaughter that these

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Israelites were had great fear of them and for good reason.

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Back in chapter 4 they feared these mighty Philistines. In verse 10 we read, so the

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Philistines fought and Israel was defeated and every man fled to his tent and the slaughter was very great and there fell of Israel 30 ,000 foot soldiers.

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So try to picture this field. Now in the battles that they held back then it was somewhat similar to the civil war battles.

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They would line up on both sides of the field or wherever the battle took place and the weapons they had were spear, perhaps shields, sword or battle axe.

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Those were brutal weapons at that time and brought great collateral. So that's what they were facing.

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They knew that they were facing this wicked and ferocious enemy.

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So a question, last week we talked about the offices that Samuel had.

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So let's review that. What was Samuel's first serving of the Lord? What was his first office?

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Priest, okay. So he served and he ministered under the guidance of Eli at where?

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Where? Shiloh, because Shiloh is the place where the

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Ark of the Covenant remains. So at the tabernacle in Shiloh they would travel once a year to go worship.

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That's when Hannah would travel there. But that is the place where Eli guided and taught

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Samuel. So what was his second role? Samuel's second serving role?

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Prophet. He prophesied back in chapter 3 of what was going to happen to Eli as well as his sons and all his family.

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Remember, Hophni and Phineas were derelicts.

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They were wicked men and they were supposed to be carrying out priestly duties. And yet they were a perversion to the tabernacle.

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So now the third role, Samuel is a judge, correct?

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So now he's serving as a judge, but he has served all his life and been faithful to God.

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So now in this role they know who Samuel is and they know that his relationship with God is close and prayerful.

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So they trusted him. So as he takes on this role now,

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Samuel is taking on the role of a priest because he's bringing an offering. And he's bringing an offering before the

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Lord to entreat him that these may give victory to the

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Israelites. Samuel takes the role of a priest and he makes intercession and atonement on behalf of these

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Israelites. The lamb would be at least seven days old as the

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Levitical law required. In Leviticus 22 verses 26 and 27, we read this.

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Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, when an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother.

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And from the eighth day on, it shall be accepted a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the

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Lord. So Samuel, verse 9, first portion of 9a,

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Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the

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Lord. So Samuel had followed the prescribed offering, which the

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Levitical law required. The lamb was offered up as a whole offering and fully consumed on the altar without being divided.

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Samuel had selected a young lamb for the burnt offering as being the purest and most innocent kind of sacrificial animal.

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The burnt offering, you remember what that represented when they did so? Just as a refresher, the burnt offering was showing that they had consecrated themselves into a life of service to the

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Lord. So Samuel offered this burnt offering. In second part 9b,

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Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel and the Lord answered him. Now the proper approach of Samuel had been taken prior.

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Prior to this offering and prior to his intercessory prayer, what did he call the people to?

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Repentance. And what else did he call them to? What did he tell them to do that was significant for these

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Israelites? Destroy the idols. Remember, these

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Israelites who would sometimes have idols thinking somehow that their crops would be better if they had these idols.

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They had certain idols for each aspect of what they were used for. That was an abomination.

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So Samuel called them to repentance and to destroy these idols, which they did.

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They followed what Samuel called them to do and they did so. Samuel cried to the

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Lord for Israel and the Lord answered him. Now Samuel's called them to humble themselves, to repentance and to destroying their idols.

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So there's a question here at this point. What's the difference between remorse and repentance?

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Good. Did you hear the statement by Nathel? Remorse is you're feeling bad or sorrowful for what you did.

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Repentance is turning away from that sin and turning to God.

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That's the biblical repentance. The definition in the dictionary for remorse is a feeling of being sorry for doing something bad or wrong and a feeling of guilt.

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Biblical repentance, however, in the Greek, also in the verb and noun form, is defined as a change of mind, the seed of moral reflection involving a change for the better.

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That is repentance from sin. The word is found in the Synoptic Gospels nine times,

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Acts five times, and in the book of Revelation 12 times. So as we consider the aspect of this important part of salvation, repentance,

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I, some years back, used to do ride -alongs down in Kootenai County, and I'd also do, they called me to do services at the jail, and I would do so, and then

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I'd have a chance to share the gospel. But I would often talk to these inmates, and I also did that in Walla Walla State Prison for a while.

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I was assistant chaplain there. And when I talked to these inmates, mostly the lifers,

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I would question what they felt about their crimes.

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I didn't ask them what their crime was. I already had that information. But when

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I would question them, I would ask them, how do you feel about these crimes? And almost every one of them would say,

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I feel really bad. I wish I never would have done it. And I'd say, well, why is that?

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Well, I just hurt too many people. I lost my job. Now I've got a record.

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I may never get out of here. And then I would ask them, do you know what the difference is for a

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Christian when they sin, which is what you have done? And they would always ask, why?

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What? What's the difference? Repentance is turning away from your sin and turning to God.

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And that's an essential part of the gospel. If they just feel bad, everyone feels bad if they have a conscience, which they do.

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But to repent is to humble yourself before God and truly turn from your sin.

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In verse 10, Samuel was offering up the burn offering and the Philistines drew near for battle against Israel, but the

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Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the

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Philistines and confused them. I want to stop at this point, but think about this.

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Here they are. They have destroyed their idols. Samuel has called them to repent.

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They repented. Samuel has offered a burnt offering and a prayer on their behalf.

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And what happens? All of a sudden, they hear the enemy, Philistines, attacking them.

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The immediate reaction would have struck fear in their hearts. They knew the brutality and the loss that they'd already suffered.

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And yet they were prepared to go to battle. But what happened? God interceded.

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The Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them so that they were routed before Israel.

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Now, when Samuel was offering this burnt offering, that would have been a vulnerable time for these

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Philistines to attack. They weren't focused on battle. They were prepared to go if they had to, but this is a time of prayer and offering, the most vulnerable time.

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So the Lord interceded and routed them. In the Hebrew, routed means to cause an uproar or destroy.

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This great thundering noise had caused complete disorientation amongst the

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Philistines. So they were in total confusion and the

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Israelis went after them and they defeated them. They even, in verse 11, the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the

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Philistines and struck them down as far as Bethkar. Now, Bethkar, there's not a whole lot known about that.

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But whatever location that was, they were retreating. They were victorious.

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The Israelites were victorious over their mortal enemies, the Philistines.

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So now this victory had been brought about, but it wasn't by their great tactical maneuvers.

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It was the Lord interceding on their behalf to cause that confusion and give victory to the

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Israelites. In verse 11, we read, the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the

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Philistines and struck them down as far as Bethkar. Now the Lord had gone before them, had given them a great victory and the

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Philistines, being in a state of confusion, were fleeing. That must have been a scene to watch their mortal enemies fleeing and retreating.

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They were the ones that had retreated before. Remember back when they slaughtered 30 ,000? They all retreated and went to each of their tents.

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They scattered. They weren't even in unity when they left. They weren't together. They just scattered and went to their various locations of their tents.

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Here, they were all together. They pursued these Philistine warriors and the

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Lord caused the confusion and granted them victory. It was a great victory.

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God's people should always remember that God desires not only to show reverence to him as what we spoke of last week.

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Remember how irreverent they were at Beth Shemesh? They had no reverence for the

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Ark of the Covenant. So what do we do with it now? We don't want to keep it here.

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We want the Israelites to have this. So we'll send it up to Kiriath Gerium, which they did and it remained there.

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Now this is 20 years later. In chapter two, remember

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Hannah's prayer when she offered her prayer to the Lord? She wanted a child and she promised the

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Lord if she had a male child, he would serve the Lord all his days and not a razor would touch his head, which was like a

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Nazarite vow. She cried and wept before the Lord. But then in verse 10 of her song, she said this, those who contend with the

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Lord will be shattered. Against them, he will thunder in the heavens.

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So not only did that come out as a reality, but this is something that Hannah had prayed and expressed.

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This is a mighty God that she served. In passage in 1

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Samuel 7, verses three through 11, God's people should always remember that God desires his people not only to show reverence, but also calling upon God to answer our petitions of prayer.

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But we can't do that if we remain or have an unconfessed and a sin that we haven't repented of.

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We must always do so before going to the Lord in prayer.

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We have this great promise, but it has a great imperable as well.

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In the New Testament, we're all familiar with 1 John. He says this, if you confess your sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

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Now that just isn't a prayer that we'd say. That isn't some kind of rote prayer that someone would repeat, confess, well,

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I'm gonna confess this, not like in some religions where they go to a person and confess their sins.

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This is a prayer from the heart, which the wording itself reflects contrition, sorrow for our sin.

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And that's what the Lord promises. But with that, he restores us to righteousness before our

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Lord. Christ is our righteousness. Verse 12, Samuel, then

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Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shin and named it

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Ebenezer, saying, thus far, the Lord has helped us. We saw back in chapter four, verse one said this, thus the

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Lord of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside Ebenezer while the

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Philistines camped in Aphek. So this is the place where Israel suffered defeat, but now it received a more encouraging name,

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Ebenezer. It was actually just a stone and it marked a location like a monument showing they had victory over their enemies, the

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Philistines. It was the place in which Samuel set up a memorial and according to Jewish tradition, it was called a help stone, which is the

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Hebrew name for Ebenezer. And giving his reason for setting up this monument,

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Samuel continued in verse 12 and he said this, thus far, the

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Lord has helped us. Since Samuel called the people of Israel to turn from their idols and repent, they did.

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And the Lord in turn displayed his power as well as his grace upon Israel and then aided

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Israel by causing this great thunder. The memorial stood about halfway between Mizpah and Shem.

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Again, Mizpah, remember the name what that meant we looked at last week?

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Anyone remember that? I know you're going to remember it when

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I mention it, but remember Watchtower? That's what the name meant.

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And Shem, that's the name of the other location. That means tooth in Hebrew because the rock had a pointed shape in the shape of a tooth.

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So Mizpah, the Watchtower and Shem, the tooth. Verse 13, so the

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Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel.

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And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. So there was no further attacks by Philistines while Samuel was judge over Israel.

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Even though the Philistines were defeated in battle at Mizpah, they still had garrisons in Israel.

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When Saul was made king, it was still a thorough victory at that time for the

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Israelites and what was followed up by an invasion of Philistia. Now in your maps, if you look back, in some of you have the

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MacArthur study Bibles. If you look back in chapter 4, which is page 376, it shows the mountains and the locations of some of these places in Ephraim.

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And remember Jim, he brought those slides, showed the slides of Shiloh and where the actual location of the

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Ark of the Covenant was once there. So even though the

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Philistines were defeated in battle, Samuel recovered the towns. Now he didn't take over any of the

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Philistine towns. He just restored those towns that were taken by the

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Philistines. So all he did was restore the Israel boundaries, which is proper.

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Even though we look at that and we say, well, what has happened since at this time, it established that they were now going to serve their

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God. But as I was talking with Mike this morning, this is much like, as we look at the book of Judges, we see this cycle over and over.

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Israelites sin. God causes something to happen to them, brings them to repentance once more.

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They serve God. Then sometime later, they turn away from God, start sinning again.

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God brings a judgment upon them. They repent, complete cycle. Do we ever look at that in the

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Christian life? How sometimes we could go, how can

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I do this over and over? How can I think, how can I drive like whatever it is?

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We can repeat those sins, but God wants us to truly put those out, turn from them, and turn to God.

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Yes, Brian. Good point.

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Brian just said, these had the

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Old Testament law, but we now have

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Christ. We have God's Holy Spirit in us, and we have the entire scriptures.

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We have a greater ability to turn from our sin, and yet we still fall into the same traps, but a greater accountability.

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We have the word of God. So there is a greater ability for believers to turn from their sin.

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What can Christians do to grow in their faith and diminish the enemy's influence upon our soul?

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Which are the world, the flesh, and Satan. Nathael said, you hear that?

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Stay in the word. Why is that? That's our revelation.

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This is the revelation that God, this is God's special revelation.

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He gave the general revelation of his creation. We have before us the special revelation.

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We have all of God's word in its entirety, but what else? Pray, okay.

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How often do we neglect that privilege? And it is a privilege. Think about that.

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We are able to pray. We're able to intercede on behalf of others. We're able to petition the

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Lord, but we do so with a clean heart. So we have these abilities, but there's another element here that hasn't been mentioned yet.

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What else is that that Christians have? We are indwelled.

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Did you hear Brian? The power of God's Holy Spirit in us. We are indwelt by God's spirit.

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He is the one that convicts us of sin and righteousness. Even though Saul had reigned, we read this in 2

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Chronicles 21, in verses 16 and 17. The Philistines seem to appear again in strength once again.

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We read in verses 16 and 17, then the Lord stirred up against Jeroboam, the spirit of the

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Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians, and they came against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions found in the king's house together with his sons, his wives, so that no son was left to him except Joahaz, the youngest of his sons.

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The sin of Jehoram caused far -reaching consequences.

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He suffered military losses, and his country was ravaged. His capital was taken.

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His palace was plundered, and all his children were killed except the youngest.

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He died with a painful disease and was buried without honor. That was in 2

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Chronicles 21, verses 16 through 22. We sometimes don't take into account the far -reaching impact of sin that believers can have.

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It can impact many people, not just family, but the family of God, and all that are impacted by that can cause great damage.

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Verse 14, the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the

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Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

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Now, the Amorites remained friends with Israel as well as the

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Philistines, but now that Israel had defeated the Philistines, the

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Amorites wanted them as their allies. Previously, as we look at this, the

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Amorites had conflict with Israel. The consequent of the defeat at Ebenezer resulted in the

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Philistines relinquishing and restoring the cities which they had taken from the

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Israelites. Now, the cities bordered the Philistines from Ekron to Gath.

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These cities has been allotted to the tribes of Judah and Dan during the time of Joshua.

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So this was all ancient history. In Joshua chapter 13, verses one through four, we read this,

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Now Joshua was old and advanced in years when the Lord said to him, you are old and advanced in years and very much of the land remains to be possessed.

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This is the land that remains all the regions of the Philistines and all those of the

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Israelites, Jesuits. And from Shishar, which is east of Egypt, as far as the border of Akron and to the north, which is counted as Canaanite, the five

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Lords of the Philistines, the Gazite, the Ashodite, the

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Ashkelonite, and the Gittite, and the Ekronite, and the

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Avite to the south. Try that one when you're trying to speak to somebody.

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All the land of the Canaanite and the Moriah that belongs to the

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Sidonians as far as Aphek and to the border of the Amorite. The fact that Judah and Simeon conquered

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Akron together with Gaza and Ashkelon after the death of Joshua, we read this,

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Then Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord died at age one hundred and ten.

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So the Philistines resided for the most part in the coastal plains in Philistia.

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The Amorites, on the other hand, resided mostly in the hills west of Israel between Jordan Valley and the coastal plains.

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The Israelites were at peace now with the Amorites as they were with the

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Philistines. However, the Amorites now favored the Israelites because of their victory.

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So we see some of the fruits of the blessings of God that had brought forth on behalf of Israel since their repentance.

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Israel, under the leadership of Samuel, enjoys freedom from oppression of the

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Philistines and regains their lost cities. What a restoration. They had lost these cities and they were constantly being oppressed by the

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Philistines. When God granted them this victory, they had all their cities restored and the borders restored.

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So now the Philistines were no longer going to attack them during Samuel's time.

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That was a great reward that God had mercy on them. Now we see all these fruits.

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And during this period of time, Samuel can enjoy carrying out his civil duties as he returns to his home in Ramah.

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In verses 15 through 17, we read, now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

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He used to go annually on a circuit to Bethel and Mizpah and he judged

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Israel in all these places. Verse 17, then his return to Ramah was his return to Ramah for his house was there and there he judged

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Israel and built there an altar to the Lord. So as long as Samuel lived, there's no real clear understanding of his limitations of power.

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He conquered those who were the enemy, but then he reaches back and think about this.

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He was a priest, but before that, he was dedicated to the

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Lord by his mother. So he was a priest, prophet, now a judge.

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He's serving fully his life out before the Lord. And then his home in Ramah is safe.

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And then it's a sanctuary. He put an altar there. Now, this was a fairly common practice that would take place during that period.

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And we know that started back in Genesis with Abram when

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God called him to build an altar. That was before his name was changed to Abraham.

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So as we look at that and we look at the Old Testament practices, this is what

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Samuel did in his home. He had a sanctuary there where he built an altar before the

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Lord and would offer sacrifices on behalf of Israel. So Samuel's role during King Saul reign, he also anointed

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David when Samuel was removed. He continued as he made his yearly circuit from Ramah to Bethel and to Gilgal, which was in the

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Northeast. Then he would turn back towards the Southeast to Mizpah and return there to his home in Ramah.

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Samuel voluntarily left the military matters to the kings, but he carried out civil matters.

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All the people would gather in Mizpah and they would come to Samuel and he would handle their disputes and civil cases.

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And they knew that. So they would gather there. They would come to Samuel. He would settle their civil issues.

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And he did so biblically. Using the Old Testament law. So we don't know the full extent of his duties, but he left after the kings were appointed, when

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Saul was appointed. He then left the military leadership to the kings.

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In 1 Samuel 11, 14, where Samuel appointed Saul as king over Israel, this we read.

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Then Samuel said to the people, come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.

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This is not the same Gilgal that's mentioned in 2 Kings. This can cause confusion.

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2 Kings 2, 1. And it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind.

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And Elijah went with Elijah to Gilgal. That was a different location.

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Doesn't show in this map that we have, but it's an entirely different location. The Gilgal mentioned here in chapter 7 was situated southwest of Shiloh.

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So it was just a distance away from Shiloh. And it was near the road to Jerusalem.

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So we ought to remember back in these ancient times, these roads were crude.

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They were difficult to travel. So plus there was marauders and thieves along the way.

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So it was no safe journey when they would make these travels. Samuel, again, was first a priest, prophet, and now a judge.

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He was a servant of God all his days. Samuel remained faithful even when he was old and gray -headed.

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In chapter 12, verse 2, we read this. Now here is the king walking before you, but I am old and gray.

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And behold, my sons are with you. And I have walked before you from my youth even to this day.

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Now this is when Samuel was old. Now he's going to, later on, we'll look in chapter 8,

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Samuel does some things that were not appropriate. We'll look at that in the form of trying to appoint his sons to take over certain aspects of ministry, which these sons did not follow the

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Lord. Did you have a question? I would have to,

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Nathael was asking the difference. Well, you have, first you have

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David and then Solomon. So I don't know the exact time difference, but we could chronology the same cycles.

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Nathael just pointed out, which is a good point, when Solomon penned

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Ecclesiastes, which Jim has gone through with us a couple of times. I was here for the first one too.

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But both times were good. But the thing is, what

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Nathael was saying there, the same patterns came about. They would sin,

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God would judge them, they would repent, they go in the same cycle. And that was revealed in Ecclesiastes by Solomon as well.

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Samuel in his formal role as judge over Israel made legal decisions and exercised leadership over the civil affairs, utilizing the law of God wisely.

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At Ramah, he had built an altar before the Lord and he interceded on behalf of the

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Israelites. And he continued his circuit yearly. He would make this annual circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, which were the cities of all the

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Israelites would gather, as I previously mentioned. The Israelites would seek out Samuel and would bring their civil disputes before him.

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And he could judge their cases and render the proper judicial decisions.

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We read in 2 Samuel, now these are the words of David, 2

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Samuel 23, one through four. David, the son of Jesse declares, the man who raised on high declares, the anointed of the

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God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel, the God of Israel, the rock of Israel spoke to me.

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He who rules over men righteously, he rules in the fear of God.

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It is the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass brings out the earth through the sunshine after rain.

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Samuel knows his responsibility to the supreme king and judge of all, the

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Lord God Almighty. He understood his service before the

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Lord and he was given God's placement in this role.

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We're running short on time here, so I'm just gonna conclude here. As we think about all the cycles that transpired with Israel during this period, how they sinned, they were judged, they lost battles against the

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Philistines. Finally, a man who stood up and identified their sin before them, called them into account, called them to repent, to destroy their idols and to follow

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God and they did so, at least for a season. This is a great reminder to us the process.

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We must remember the reverence of God, who we serve and when we go to him in prayer, we must also make sure we do so with a clean heart.

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Let's close. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your special revelation to us.

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We thank you for the scriptures that you have provided, that we may understand who you are and what you have done throughout all ages.

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We thank you, Father, that you've granted us your Holy Spirit, that we can understand your word, but also to empower us to do your perfect will.

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May we continue to serve you, that we never have the name

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Ichabod hung over us, but rather that we serve a holy and righteous

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God and we come to him when we sin and we recognize and confess and we receive the righteousness, which is through Jesus Christ, our

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Lord. We just thank you now and we pray that you would be glorified as we continue in the service to have the song and hymns, as well as the word brought forth.

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We pray for Justin as he presents us with the word and we pray that once again, you would be glorified.