John Bytheway:               00:01                   Welcome to part two with Brother Mike Madsen in the book of Samuel.

Hank Smith:                      00:06                   Maybe my favorite thing Elder Holland said, although I have hundreds of these favorite things that Elder Holland said, “Brothers and sisters, there are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition. May I plead with us not to be hurt and certainly not to feel envious when good fortune comes to another person? We are not diminished when someone else is added upon. We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful or the most blessed. The race we are really in is the race against sin and surely envy is one of the most universal of those. Envy is a mistake that just keeps on giving. Obviously, we suffer a little when some misfortune befalls us, but envy requires us to suffer all good fortune that befalls everyone we know.

                                           00:58                   What a bright prospect that is. Downing another quart of pickle juice every time someone around you has a happy moment. Coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self image. So be kind and be grateful that God is kind. It’s a happy way to live.” John, you are someone who rejoices in other people’s success, you remind me a lot of Alma the Younger when he says, “My joy is more full because of the success of my brethren.” And that’s Alma 29.

John Bytheway:               01:37                   Alma 29:14, “I do not joy in my success alone. My joy is more full because of the success of my brethren who have been up to the land of Nephi.” Verse 16, “When I think of the success of these my brethren, my soul is carried away even to the separation of it from the body as it were. So great is my joy.” You mentioned Stephen Covey, Mike, as the seek first to understand and to be understood. He also taught about, he called it the abundance mentality and the scarcity mentality. The scarcity mentality says that success is like a Little Caesar’s pizza. And if you take a big piece, there is less for me. When the abundance mentality says there’s an infinite pizza factory and I can be happy for your success and it doesn’t take away any of mine. And I remember thinking of the parable of the prodigal son and of the laborers in the vineyard.

                                           02:34                   In both of those, everything’s fine until there’s comparing. And then everything goes south when you look sideways. President Benson’s famous talk that pride doesn’t rejoice in having something, only in having more of it than the next man. As soon as we compare and look sideways, then here comes the green eyed monster. So I want to get to the point where Alma is, and I can just say, look how successful they were. Isn’t that awesome? Because he could have said, boy, I didn’t do that well in the land of Nephi. Boy, you guys, I wish I’d been called to your mission and among the Lamanites, you guys had a lot work, right? But that’s not what it’s about at all. So those verses, I’m glad you brought them up. They helped me.

Bro. Mike Madsen:         03:18                   I also was thinking about President Benson’s incredible talk on pride. I feel sad for Saul. He’s consumed with this I disease. He’s consumed with it and he’s drunken with it. Chapter 20, you’ve got David saying to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? What is my sin before thy father that seeketh my life?” Jonathan doesn’t even have a good answer for him. Then in verse four, Jonathan said to David “whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will do it for thee.” Why don’t you go check the temperature of your dad and see if he’s in the killing mood or not? And so you have this moment where Jonathan, they make this little deal where it’s like, go check his temperature, see how he’s doing. The signal will be, come out and practice shooting your bow and send your servant out to fetch your arrows.

                                           04:05                   If dad is not doing well, I will yell at my servant. No, the arrows are way far beyond you. And if you hear that, that means that don’t come. If you hear me say, yeah, the arrow’s right in front of you. Then come in and in verse 30 of chapter 20, Saul’s anger is kindled against Jonathan. I want to read this from the NIV. In verse 30, Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and said to him, you son of a perverse and rebellious woman. Now he’s bringing Jonathan’s mother into this. Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither of you nor your kingdom will be established. Here’s getting at Saul’s moment. Now send someone to bring it to me for he must die. Why should he be put to death?

                                           04:57                   What has he done? Jonathan asked his father, but Saul hurled his spear at him, Jonathan, to kill him. Then Jonathan knew his father intended to kill David. And so he shoots the arrows far and says, hey, you better, you better leave. It comes to a head in chapter 22, so I just got to cover chapter 21 really quick. David goes to Nob to Ahimelech the priest and gets some help. He’s starving, doesn’t have any food, doesn’t have any weaponry. Ahimelech says, well, I don’t have the bread but the shewbread in the temple. These were big loaves, 10 pounds each. There’s 12 of them that they would keep and the priest eventually would eat these. He gives him this hallowed bread and he says, do you have any weapons? And he says, well, I’ve got the sword of Goliath. Apparently they were keeping it there behind the ephod and wrapped in the cloth.

                                           05:42                   I don’t know if it’s like a prize or something. I don’t know what’s going on. The temple has become a museum, I guess. David says, there’s none like that. Give it me. Like, there’s no sword like the sword of Goliath give that to me. David gets up and he escapes to the king of Gath. He goes to Gath, that’s where Goliath was from. That’s the safest place for him, in the heart of the enemy. David eventually leaves, hiding in caves. Finally, verse seven, you’ve got this Saul saying to the servants that stood about him. Hear now, ye Benjamites. Will the son of Jesse give everyone of you fields? Look at verse eight. This is the I disease. This is here am I send me. All of you have conspired against me and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse.

                                           06:33                   And there is none of you that is sorry for me or show unto me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in wait this day. Eight of the 55 words, it’s one in about six. This is the I disease that has just consumed him. He’s only concerned about him. You don’t feel sorry for me. There was a man named Doeg. He’s an Edomite. He had seen what had happened with David down there and the priest. And he says, hey, yeah, the priest gave David food and he gave him victuals. He gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. And they bring the priest Ahimelech to Saul. And he says in verse 13, and Saul said unto him, the priest, why have you conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse in that thou wouldest give him bread and a sword and hast inquired of God for him that he should rise up against me to lie in wait this day.

                                           07:25                   Ahimelech answered and said, and who is so faithful among the servants as David, which is the king’s son-in-law and goeth at thy bidding and is honorable in thine house. He’s like, what are you talking about? This is one of the most faithful servants. You’re not happy that I gave him something to eat and a sword. I did begin to inquire of God for him. Be it far from me. Let not the king impute anything unto his servant nor to all the house of my Father for thy servant knew nothing of all this less or more. And the king Saul said to him, thou shalt surely die.

                                           08:04                   And in verse 17, Saul’s men that were of Israel would not do it, but our friend Doeg, who was an Edomite said, I’ll do it. And in this moment, they kill 85 priests that wear the linen ephod in verse 18. 85. And not only that, they went to Nob and smote with the edge of the sword in verse 19, both men, women and children and sucklings and everything. They killed, they destroyed an entire city because the priest gave David food. What happened to Saul? Hopefully we can find happiness in this chapter at some point. I love Section 121 of the Doctrine and Covenants. One of my dear friends at work said one day, he said, you know, I love Section 121 because here is the moment in Joseph Smith’s life where he’s the most powerless and God gives him the greatest revelation on power.

                                           09:01                   He said, Joseph, if you think you’re powerless, let me teach you about power. And then you have this absolute incredible experience. Verse 39 of section 121, we learn by sad experience that is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Behold, there are many called. And this is why many called and few are chosen, right? I was thinking about this and preparing to come be with the two of you today and I had one of those moments when heaven spoke to me. I hope this makes sense for you and your viewers, but it made a lot of sense to me because I was sitting here thinking I would not want the challenge of being the king of Israel because here’s Saul. He was the best they could find at the time and he really doesn’t do well.

                                           09:54                   And David, is anyone more valiant than David? I know he struggles and you’re going to talk about that next week. I was thinking about that and I had this little impression come and says, well, what makes you think you’re not in a little challenge like that right now? I immediately thought about the Abrahamic Covenant where God promised Abraham land and posterity and priesthood and I love that and the fulfillment of that and the restoration of that covenant today in our life. I thought about my little land stewardship and my sweet wife and my six children and my nine grandchildren in a very small way. I have a little, if I can say kingdom, how am I doing with that? And I got in only a way that the Spirit can do, I evaluated my little, my life in that moment.

                                           10:39                   I came out of there thinking, you know what? I need to be a better husband. I need to be a better father. I try really hard, but I know I can do better. Section 121, I think everyone knows it well about many are called and few are chosen and why are they not chosen? Verse 35 is Saul, because their hearts are set so much on the things of this world and aspire to the honors of men. The women were singing that song and it just drove Saul crazy. The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven. The powers of heaven cannot be controlled or handled only upon the principles of righteousness. I think this is a very, very well-known section in verses 41 to 43. If you want to know what you need to do to be like the Savior and to continue having this power, you see words like persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love unfeigned, kindness, pure knowledge.

                                           11:34                   This is the Savior. Without hypocrisy, without guile, guile is deceitful cunning. Our heavenly Father and his Son can even reprove us and then show an increase of love. Someone that’s like this can show an increase of love and then that even after the reproving, the bond is stronger. Verse 46, I love of Section 121. If you’re able to do these things, the Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter, thy scepter. Who holds scepters? Kings hold scepters. Rulers hold scepters, right? So here you have echoes of this Abrahamic covenant, you have the cycles of the king. Thy scepter shall be an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion. Now, I don’t know everything about this verse and don’t claim to, but it seems that everlasting there, we’ve left this life, this earth life to the eternities. And then this phrase is so powerful and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

                                           12:38                   What’s the antecedent to it? Thy dominion. Your dominion’s going to flow without compulsory means. We know very little about the next life. We know very little about the relationship that we’re going to have with each other and we know the sealing power’s there and it’s real and families can be together forever. I come from this saying, I need to be the kind of individual, father, husband, friend that people would want to be with. There is no compulsion in heaven. Why do you want to be with Christ? Why do you want to be with the Savior?

Hank Smith:                      13:19                   I love him because he loved me.

John Bytheway:               13:23                   He takes us exactly where we’re at no matter where we’re at, but he loves us into coming up a little bit higher. I always feel that way when I feel the Spirit. Things become clear. But I feel like I’d be safe with him.

Bro. Mike Madsen:         13:39                   Safety is a beautiful word. Jonathan and David feel safe with each other. They hug, they weep. I look at the Savior and talk about someone who’s persuasive. He’s long-suffering. Oh, goodness. He’s put up with me my whole entire life. He’s long-suffering. He’s gentle. He’s meek. His love is not fake. It’s real. He’s kind. There’s no hypocrisy in him. There’s no deceitful cunning. Guile. I want to be with the Savior because not only what he has done for me, but because he loves me, you’re absolutely right. President Oaks, I think the word love is 22 times if I counted right in his talk that he just recently gave in conference. What was the message of President Oaks after that beautiful solemn assembly in his main address? He wants us to love and I want to be like Jonathan.

                                           14:33                   I want to set my own throne aside and accept the Savior in my life because every single time I do that, I’m happier. People around me are happier. My life is great. So if there’s anything redeeming that we can get out of the story of Saul’s demise as he slaughters a whole city and 85 priests is that maybe it’s a non-example that we’ve got to be careful not to get drunk with our own conceit.

John Bytheway:               14:59                   Well, I like that word you used. He was consumed with it. You might even say possessed. How do you go that far?

Hank Smith:                      15:07                   I don’t know if this was pointed out to me or if I just was reading one day. I wish I knew so I could give someone credit. These three kings are all going to fall. The Lord is going to have three temptations. They sure line up quite a bit. He is the king that would not fall to these.

Bro. Mike Madsen:         15:24                   That’s awesome. I’ve never thought about that. That’s beautiful. Isn’t that great? And that goes back to the principle that we’re focusing on here.

John Bytheway:               15:33                   Look for Jesus.

Bro. Mike Madsen:         15:34                   Yeah, look for the Savior in everything you’re teaching. I really want to get to one more story and we’re going to have one chapter to set it up and then we’re going to end on a beautiful note, especially with learning about Christ. Chapter 23, David has kind of a neat moment. You can see he’s maturing. And in fact, in verse one and verse two, he may not need prophets as much. He’s getting better at inquiring of the Lord because the Philistines come into Keilah and they’re robbing the threshing floors that they’re harvesting their wheat and their corn probably and that’s a great time to go rob people when they’re harvesting their food. And then David inquired to the Lord saying, shall I go and smite the Philistines? And the Lord said, go and smite the Philistines.

                                           16:20                   Save this city, save Keilah. So David has got Saul’s armies behind him. Now he’s being called to defend Israel. And verse four, he’s like, are you sure? David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him again and said, arise, go down to Keilah. I will deliver the Philistines in thy hands. And so David verse five goes down, smites the inhabitants of Keilah. And I think what happens next really sets up what happens to him in a moment with Abigail. The apologetic is going to come out in me really quick. I love verse six because there’s only one person that survived the slaughter at Nob, it was the son of the priest and his name is Abiathar. He fled to David into Keilah and he came down with an ephod in his hand. I think we all know what the ephod is, right? It was what the high priest would wear.

                                           17:08                   It had inside of the ephod. It had a Urim and Thummim. You see, verse nine, David’s like, bring him to the ephod. I’ve got to talk to God. Then said David, O Lord God of Israel. He goes ahead and he’s inquiring of the Lord again by use of the ephod or the Urim and Thummim. Even if you go to Wikipedia and type in ephod, it’s very clear that the ephod had a Urim and Thummim in it and ancient prophets used it for revelation. We kind of went crazy one year in our stake and we built essentially the whole tabernacle except for the outer courtyard and we built this beautiful mannequin and put this, we put this ephod on him. The story of Joseph Smith and the breastplate and Urim and Thummim is so strange to people. But I want to say, wait a minute. Do you read the Hebrew Bible?

                                           18:01                   Do you read the Old Testament? Because if you did, you would know that the Urim and Thummim and revelation is not something new to God’s people. So forgive the apologetic coming out. I just think that’s awesome. The story of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a sheer miracle. Every time I read the Book of Mormon, I have a witness in my heart that this is the word of God. I just love that. David’s inquiring of the Lord. This prayer is, will the men of Keilah deliver me up unto Saul? Saul’s going to come. He’s going to hear I did this. And the Lord said he will come down and he said, they will deliver you up. Even though you just saved their life, they will give you up to Saul. Why? Probably because of what he, they had heard what happened in Nob. And so David says, that’s not good and so they take off. But he may be thinking, oh my goodness, maybe this strategy isn’t working very well. You know, because he has a weak moment in just a minute.

                                           18:58                   Chapter 24, well-known story. David finds Saul asleep in a cave. He’s hiding in the cave. It’s the same cave that Saul eventually hides in and his servants are like, David, God has delivered him into your hand. And David is, there’s no way. There is no way I’m going to lift up my hand against the Lord’s anointed in verse six. He’s not going to do it. He cuts off just a piece of Saul’s garment and there’s so much guilt inside of him. And there’s this very intimate moment when they’re leaving and David says, hey, by the way, I was in the cave. I’m sparing your life. And he calls him father and Saul in verse 16, is this thy voice my son David? Saul lifted his voice and wept. And as you began this great podcast, here’s this verse and he said unto David, thou art more righteous than I for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.

                                           19:56                   And I want to say, okay then, Saul, throw down your spear, throw down your weapons, go give David a hug. Bring him back to your house. Repent of this evil, but he doesn’t. Verse 20, “Behold, I know well that thou shall surely be king and that the king of Israel shall be established in thine hand.” Amazing to me. I just wish that Saul could say, I’m going to give this up and live my life and go take care of any of the descendants of the people who lived in Nob, you know, but he doesn’t. He just still can stay as consumed. Chapter 25 is such a great note to end on. And you have this story of Nabal. His name means fool. Probably given that name after the story had been told many times. You have this incredible individual named Abigail, a beautiful type of the Savior, but verse one, Samuel dies.

                                           20:52                   Here’s his mentor. I have no doubt that David felt more on his own and all Israel lamented this. David arises. He’s out in the countryside and there’s a man very rich there. His name’s Nabal. David is essentially protecting. He’s got about 600 soldiers now and men with him and he’s protecting the land and he’s protecting Nabal’s things. Verse three now the name of the man was Nabal and the name of his wife was Abigail. She was a woman of good understanding and a beautiful countenance, but the man was churlish. That looked down just rude, rough and evil in his doings and he was at the house of Caleb. David says, look, we’re pretty hungry and we’ve been protecting the sheep for a long time. He sends people down there, greet him, go to Nabal, greet him in my name and say, peace to thee, and peace to thine house and can we please have some food, essentially.

                                           21:50                   Verse 10 of chapter 25, Nabal answered David’s servants said, who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? Jesse, Bethlehem, are you kidding me? There’s a lot of servants nowadays that are breaking away every man from his master. And then verse 11, here’s our little game we’re going to play again with the I disease. You’re listening at home, as you’re marking your scriptures, you’re listening, count the number of times. He says the word I or my in these 31 words. You ready? Shall I then take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers and give it unto men whom I know not whence they be? So he’s breaking the record at every four and a half words. He’s using the word I or my or me. Here you have someone consumed with wealth. What would the Savior do or what would someone with the Spirit of the Lord do in this moment?

                                           22:44                   I would hope to think that if I had the protection of this army protecting my things, I guarantee you Nabal knew who David was and what he’d been doing. And in their culture, this was not good to do anyway to turn away someone in need. David has this fairly weak moment. He has 400 men in verse 13, takes them with him and the 200 abode by the stuff it says in verse 13. He leaves 200 men to guard their things and he takes 400. And essentially, you can see in verse 21, “Surely in vain I have kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness so that nothing was missed and nothing was stolen. All that pertained to him. And he has requited me evil for good.” He says, I’m going to go in and in the morning there will be no men left. Is this a weak moment for David? He’s going to do this. They are marching to Nabal. What do you think?

Hank Smith:                      23:39                   This one’s hard. David’s saying, I did all this for you. What is it the servant says? He railed on him. Part of me is thinking, well, if you’re not the king’s friend, you’re the king’s enemy and this is how the king treats his enemies, but I think you’re right. Who is David? I’ll show you who David is.

Bro. Mike Madsen:         23:57                   David could have been justified. I don’t understand their culture, but it seems to be a little bit much. David, fortunately, is spared by an incredible woman, which so many of us, including myself, is spared many times daily by righteous women. And her name is Abigail. She hears about this, by the way. Servants tell her that David’s getting ready to come in and take care of business. She quickly in verse 18, made haste, gets 200 loaves, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, kills them, has them prepared. So lots of food and she brings this gift to David and they meet on the road. Abigail sees David and she hasted, lighted off the donkey, fell before David on her face, bowed herself to the ground. Verse 24 is so beautiful. And she fell at his feet and said, upon me, my Lord, upon me, let this iniquity be.

                                           24:53                   She’s taking responsibility of somebody else’s actions and let thy handmaid, I pray thee speak in thine audience and hear the words of thy handmaid. Will you let the iniquity be in me and I want to talk to you. And she gives one of the greatest speeches probably in the Old Testament. Verse 25, she mentions that her husband’s a fool. He comes by his name honestly. Verse 28, Forgive the trespass of thy handmaid again. She’s taking responsibility. And then she prophesies, “For the Lord will certainly make thy Lord a sure house. And because my Lord fighteth the battles of the Lord and evil have not been found in him all the days of life.” She’s saying, David, evil has not been found in you at all, but you’re on the cusp of something that I guarantee you is going to hurt your heart. In fact, she even uses a reference to a sling and the soul of all thine enemies, them shall he sling out as the middle of a sling.

                                           25:50                   She’s referenced back to David and Goliath. Verse 30, she says at the end of it, you’re going to be king over Israel, David. Verse 31, If you go in, this thing you’re about to do, it will cause you grief. I don’t want, David, for you when you take the kingship to have any grief nor offense of heart unto my Lord. Either that thou hast shed blood causeless or that my Lord hath avenged himself. Isn’t this beautiful? David, don’t go into being the king of Israel with this on your conscience. David, of course, blessed be the Lord God of Israel in verse 32 and blessed be thy advice in verse 33. He is so happy. Can you imagine that for just a moment? David, he’s upset and this woman defused him instantly by taking the blame herself. That is so beautiful. I love the word intercession.

                                           26:52                   This is the definition. Intercession is the act of intervening, pleading, or praying on behalf of another person or group. She intercedes in this moment. We know the role of the Savior here is our intercessor between us and God. He intervenes. He pleads. The Savior says, I’m pleading your cause before the Father. It involves acting as a mediator to bridge the gap. The Savior is the mediator between us and God. Often in a spiritual context, this is Webster’s definition, by the way. Oh, in a spiritual context, like praying to God or someone else or a practical context intervening to resolve a conflict or situation. She is interceding. Another valiant woman, Sister Kristin Yee, who’s in the general relief society presidency right now said this about this moment. In this account, Abigail can be seen as a powerful type or symbol of Jesus Christ. Through his atoning sacrifice, he can release us from the sin and weight of a warring heart and provide us with the sustenance we need.

                                           27:52                   Just as Abigail was willing to take Nabal’s sin upon herself, so did the Savior in an incomprehensible way take upon him our sins and the sins of those who have hurt or offended us. In Gethsemane, upon the cross, he claimed these sins. He made a way for us to let go of a vengeful heart, like David’s. That way is through forgiving, which can be one of the most difficult things we ever do and one of the most divine things we will ever experience. Isn’t that beautiful? On the path of forgiveness, Sister Yee continues, Jesus Christ’s atoning power can flow into our lives and begin to heal deep crevices of the heart and soul. I love that and I love this story. I love this righteous woman, Abigail. David withholds. He doesn’t do it. By the way, she goes home, her husband’s drunk. She’s like, I’m not going to tell him tonight. She waits till the next day in verse 37. She tells him what was going to happen. He has a heart attack. And a few days later, he dies, Abigail and David get married.

Hank Smith:                      28:53                   I love that you brought Sister Yee’s sermon up. This to me was one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard and it’s linked right in the Come, Follow Me manual. Beauty for Ashes: The Healing Path of Forgiveness, October 2022, Sister Kristen M. Yee. Everyone needs to listen to this talk again. She was very vulnerable in talking about her childhood. She says, “I have personally witnessed the miracle of Christ healing my warring heart. With permission of my father, I shared that I grew up in a home where I didn’t always feel safe because of emotional and verbal mistreatment. In my youth and young adult years, I resented my father and had anger in my heart from that hurt. Over the years and in my efforts to find peace and healing on the path to forgiveness,” I remember this when she said this. “I came to realize in a profound way that the same son of God who atoned for my sins is the same redeemer who also saved those who have deeply hurt me. I could not truly believe the first truth without believing the second. As my love for the Savior has grown, so has my desire to replace hurt and anger with his healing balm. It has been a process of many years requiring courage, vulnerability, perseverance, and learning to trust in the Savior’s divine power to save and heal. I still have work to do, but my heart is no longer on a war path.”

Bro. Mike Madsen:         30:28                   Beautiful.

Hank Smith:                      30:29                   When someone can take a story like this and then create a sermon, they basically, in my mind, become inseparable, this story and this talk. Thank you for linking all these talks in the Come, Follow Me manual. I’ve always wanted to thank someone for that. Thank you, Mike.

Bro. Mike Madsen:         30:47                   Hank, thank you so much for saying that. We love embedding the words of prophets, seers and revelators and our wonderful general officers and the Seventy in Come, Follow Me. We hope out there that you click on those and revisit those. Sister Yee in this moment gave us a beautiful testimony. Talk about blessed be thy advice, right? She gave us incredible advice in breaking down this story for us and it’s a story that’s not well known. I see Elder Ulisses Soares as like Paul. Paul’s an apostle and so is Elder Soares. So is Elder Bednar. Peter, the chief apostle, we have President Oaks whom I love with all my heart. We get to sit every six months at the feet of incredible people. And so yeah, blessed be thy advice.

John Bytheway:               31:35                   I remember hearing Sister Yee’s talk, her being willing to share that and let us know. I’m wrestling, I’m fighting the same battles that everybody is. And at the very beginning of this, Mike, you used a phrase that I wrote down. You talked about they, there, then, and comparing it to our me, here and now. And that is exactly what Sister Yee did. Looking back at this situation with Abigail willing to take Nabal’s iniquity upon herself as a type of Christ and then hearing Sister Yee be so vulnerable and say, look, I’m working on it. So many people could just go, oh, thank you for saying that. Even though this is the Old Testament a long time ago, look how they, there and then is affecting our me, here and now. Perfect example.

Hank Smith:                      32:28                   You know, you can’t psychoanalyze people in the past, especially in ancient history. But I wonder with David and Saul, if David has not been a little bit traumatized by people trying to hurt him, maybe a little post-traumatic Saul and here’s Nabal who treats him bad and he loses his temper and here’s Abigail saying, don’t do this. Don’t do this. I know you’re angry and you maybe even have a right to be angry, but don’t do this. I bet both of you would say the same thing as I’m about to, that I have a woman in my life who has said that multiple times to me. Don’t do this. Don’t do it. You’ll regret it and you’re not in the wrong here. This is not a good idea. How many of us as husbands and wives too, I’m sure, or it’s children or from a brother or sister who gives us some advice? How many of us say, I don’t need your advice. But that phrase, blessed be thy advice. I need to put it on my mirror. So I’m not prideful when someone who cares about me gives me advice.

Bro. Mike Madsen:         33:40                   Write it on the mirror, blessed be thy advice. I had an experience when I was teaching seminary down in Castle Dale that really affected me deeply. I had this apple tree in my backyard. It was golden delicious apples and they were so beautiful. This year, we had a frost kill most of them. It was about 15 apples and I wasn’t letting anyone get these apples until it was time. I came home from seminary just after that frost. It was time to harvest the apples. And I lived on the border of a elementary school and it was a six foot fence between the school and my yard. I looked out my backyard and there was one boy up in the tree, another boy on the ground and they were grabbing these apples as fast as they can and throwing them over. There was a line of kids getting all these apples.

                                           34:24                   They’d gotten most of my apples by the time I came out. I saw who it was and so I drove, I was mad, like I was mad. I went over to the school and I talked to the principal and they found out who it was, these two boys that were in my tree and they suspended them for like three days or something. I don’t know. And I’m like, I got my revenge. Well, unfortunately, about a couple weeks after that, the pheasant hunt was on and there was this boy that was up in my tree was out hunting with another youth and they didn’t have an adult with them and they crossed the fence. The gun went off and this little boy was killed. Yeah, it’s a tragic story. I remember about a week later a seminary, wise seminary student giving a devotional saying, you know, that thing, if you could have lunch with anyone, who would it be?

                                           35:11                   We all got a chance to share, and I said, I’d have lunch with this boy. I don’t know how the Savior would have handled that situation. Obviously, stealing’s bad. I think he would have gone out and probably quietly made his way to the tree before that boy would have gotten down. I think he would have probably put his hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye and probably got down on his level and maybe reproved betime a little bit, you know, reproved a little bit. Then he would have probably given him a hug and said, hey, let’s make sure everyone here has an apple. I just think that’s who he was. And about a year later, I moved out to another small town and it had this ditch behind our house and it was an irrigation ditch and it had water going through it.

                                           35:52                   And where the water went underground, there was this big cog. Think of a bicycle spoke with a big chain but about five times the size. It was very dangerous, but the kids loved to swim there. I remember going out one day, a bunch of 12-year-olds again and they were swimming and I said, you guys, you’ve got to get out of here. That’s very dangerous. And they started saying to me things that 12-year-olds would say when they don’t really care about you, you know? And I’m like, please, you know, you’re going to get hurt. And they were saying, calling me names and things like that. I’m like, fine. 30 minutes later, my brother and I were in the shed and we hear blood curdling screams coming from the backyard. We run back there and this boy that was the most boisterous towards me was in the water and his hand had gotten caught in that cog and it had stopped the sweep and it was stuck and it, he was just screaming.

                                           36:44                   It was mangled in a mess. We didn’t know what to do. We grabbed the hack saw trying to cut through this chain and finally after four or five minutes, we jumped in the river and was able to just with, you know, going against the force of the water, bring that cog back to free his mangled hand. His mom had gotten there by that time and she grabbed him and off they took him to the hospital and about two hours later I go in and my wife’s baking cookies. Married long enough by then to tell if my wife’s baking cookies, most likely they’re not for me.

                                           37:22                   And I said, who are the cookies for? She already had this beautiful plate in this boy’s name and she says, we’re taking these to that boy. This is the nature, I think, of women and it’s a Christlike nature and I want to be more like that. And one last thought, a year later I had this, we had a big garden, had about 10 rows of corn and I came home one day from teaching Institute and there were some boys in my corn and they were just pulling that corn as fast as they could putting in bags. And I yelled, boys! And instantly, this thing happened in my heart, and they start running. I’m like, take all you want. You know, be careful as you leave, take all you want. You can have the corn. It’s okay.

John Bytheway:               38:14                   Do both of you remember when, was it President Oaks was held up at gunpoint and how calmly he handled that? And what did he say? You don’t want to do this or something to the young man. There’s the knee jerk and then there’s the pause and listen to this advice and ask yourself, I think it’s another President Oak’s phrase, where will this lead? To slow down a little bit. Thank you for the Abigails and for the Holy Ghost who can tell you to pause for a second. What’s the outcome here if you go with your knee jerk reaction?

Hank Smith:                      38:51                   Wow, thank you for those stories, Mike. Those are hard, but important. I’m sure you both remember when the First Presidency would have a message in the Ensign. I do remember opening this one up and it has never left me. It was from President Uchtdorf. He says the great Russian author, Tolstoy, began his novel, Anna Karenina, with these words, “Happy families are all alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” He says, “While I do not have Tolstoy’s certainty that all happy families are all alike, I’ve discovered one thing that they have in common. They have a way of forgiving and forgetting the imperfections of others and looking for the good.” And then he told this story. It’s dramatic and jolting, but I’ve never forgotten it, and this was 14 years ago, this was printed. There was an old Welsh story from the 13th century about a prince who returned home to find his dog with blood dripping down its face.

                                           39:54                   The man rushed inside and to his horror saw that his baby boy was missing and his cradle overturned. In anger, the prince pulled out his sword and killed his dog. Shortly thereafter, he heard the cry of his son. The baby was alive. By the infant’s side lay a dead wolf. The dog had, in reality, defended the prince’s baby from the murderous wolf.” He says, “The story is dramatic. It demonstrates a point. It opens the possibility that the story we tell ourselves about why others behave a certain way does not always agree with the facts. Sometimes we don’t even want to know the facts. We would rather feel self-justified in our anger by holding onto our bitterness and resentment.” And then he quotes from the wonderful proclamation on the family. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and John’s favorite, wholesome recreational activities.

Bro. Mike Madsen:         41:04                   Hank, thank you so much. That’s a tough story. It’s just a good reminder. Well, listen, I want to just set up next week really quick, chapter 26, David again, same thing happens. He’s in a trench. He spares Saul’s life again. They have a conversation and eventually we get to chapter 31 when Saul and his sons, including our hero Jonathan, is slain. It’s the end of Saul’s life and the end of Jonathan’s life. The book of 2 Samuel opens up. David eventually becomes the king. I do want to say that David brings back the ark of the covenant. He eventually wants to build the house of the Lord. He’s like, the temple’s in the dirt and I’m in the cedarwood. But he’s told, no, you’re not going to build the house, but we will build a house for you. He’s talking about this everlasting kingdom, this everlasting house.

                                           41:55                   In 2 Samuel 7, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me. Your throne will be established forever.” And of course, that’s fulfilled by the Savior. I love in Matthew chapter one that the very first book of the New Testament, the book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. When I think of David, I remember the David that slew Goliath. Who is more faithful than David in the Old Testament? 2 Samuel 11 should say to every single one of us, be careful. If someone this valiant can be tempted, we honor David’s life. It was incredible. Remember the man that was born blind? O Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. We have this moment with the triumphal entry, the multitudes cried hosanna to the son of David. I want to testify that Jesus Christ is the king of kings and he will come again.

                                           42:54                   We live in such an incredible time. Can you believe we’re alive in this moment? I just sometimes wake up and say, we are alive in this moment. The gospel of Jesus Christ is being spread throughout the world and we get to watch it. I had a really intimate and kind of exciting experience with President Nelson I’d like to share with you. He gave me permission to share this. I had a chance to do these face-to-face events where we would have members of the Twelve and their spouses. On live broadcast, we were taking in questions live from youth around the world and we had one of these prepared, or planned for President Nelson, and he was going to do it. This is when he was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. And I’d had an impression that I wanted to share with him and I said, President, how would you feel if we, instead of doing a face-to-face event where you’re answering questions with your sweet wife, that we’d change that and do a global worldwide broadcast for the youth of the church.

                                           43:49                   I was kind of nervous. President Hinckley gave one, when he gave the be’s talk and President Benson had addressed the youth in general conference and I said, it’d be kind of like that. He began to smile and I began to, I got more confidence. This was the hope of Israel talk and he looked at me and said, Mike, let’s do it. Then he said this, we need to get the youth ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ, for he is coming. And when the Lord’s prophet looked at me with this penetrating gaze and said, He is coming, the hair on the back of my neck was standing up. The King of Kings is coming. He said, we need to get the youth ready for him to come. And then when you think about what his subject matter was in this broadcast, I’m inviting you to be in the Lord’s battalion.

                                           44:44                   We’ve been talking about battalions today. The Lord’s battalion do gather Israel again. David united Israel, let’s unite and let’s gather them again. How can we get the youth ready for the Second Coming? In my mind from this experience we invite them and help them gather Israel. We are at a time when we’re seeing missionary work and we are preparing the world for this Davidic King, Jesus Christ, to come again.

Hank Smith:                      45:14                   Mike, we can’t thank you enough for your time and your preparation. This was so much fun.

Bro. Mike Madsen:         45:20                   I agree and thank you again for what you’re doing. We’re so grateful that you’re strengthening the faith and testimony of so many people every week. Thank you for what you’re doing.

Hank Smith:                      45:30                   The battle is the Lord’s. With that, we want to thank Brother Mike Madsen for spending his time with us today. We want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sorensen, our sponsors, David and Verla Sorensen and every episode we recognize and remember our founder, Steve Sorensen. We hope you’ll join us next week. We’re going to continue our studies of the Old Testament on followHIM.