Join W. Cleon Skousen as he walks the room from history to the present, weaving dramatic Founding-era stories with a lawyer’s sober account of how the Constitution’s 248 principles were meant to protect liberty — and how many have been unraveled. Through vivid anecdotes about Jefferson, Adams, and Washington, he reveals the quiet, deliberate choices that created America and the slow shifts that have taken it off course.

Skousen’s talk becomes part memoir, part warning, and part blueprint: he explains the consequences of monetary change, federal overreach, and lost states’ rights, then sketches an unexpected hope — a restored system of law and community built on reparative justice and timeless principles called God’s law. It’s a passionate call to study, stand, and prepare, told with courtroom clarity, pioneer grit, and the conviction that a nation can be remade if enough people learn what the founders intended.

Text: 2 Samuel chapters 1-4

Supplemental Text: The Fourth Thousand Years chapter 4

BYU Lecture 28: David learns of the death of King Saul and his son Jonathan. Rather than rejoicing from the news that his tormentor Saul was dead, he went into fasting and mourning. David writes a sad song lamenting the passing of Saul, the Lord’s anointed, and of Jonathan, his dear friend. But even with the death of King Saul, it wouldn’t be for nearly 8 years before David was recognized as the anointed King of all twelve tribes of Israel.

Once recognized as King, David moves the capital of Israel from Hebron to Mount Moriah, known later as Jerusalem. Now that Israel was united with their new king, Israel begins preparations to arise to her greatness. However, their dreaded enemy, the Philistines, were preparing to destroy this new threat.

Text: 1 Samuel chapters 22-31

Supplemental Text: The Fourth Thousand Years chapter 3

BYU Lecture 27: King Saul, bitter and feeling rejected by nearly all he trusted, sought the life of David in a tirade. He calls on the prophet Ahimelech, accusing him of treason for siding with David. Saul has the prophet killed along with 85 temple priests.

David and his army of 600 loyalists continually flee from Saul and his vast armies. At En-geti, David has the opportunity to kill Saul while asleep in the very cave David is hiding. Instead of killing the man who sought madly to take his life, David recognizes the divine anointing of Saul as King by the prophet Samuel and merely cuts off a piece of his cloak, showing he had power and opportunity to kill Saul, but chose not to. David uses this as a negotiation tactic to find peace with Saul. This works, but only for a short time.

Saul again launches a new war on David. Marching his army and obsessed with the task of killing David, Saul is caught off guard when attacked by the Philistines. The war goes poorly for Israel, and Jonathan, Saul’s son and beloved friend of David, is slain. When Saul realizes all is lost, he falls on his sword and takes his own life.