tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9134250938035019582023-11-16T04:00:07.556-08:00Remsen Bible FellowshipRemsen Bible Fellowship meets Sunday mornings at 10am at the VFW Hall, 207 S. Washington St, Remsen, IA. We'd love for you to join us for worship!Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-62439941780109909172021-12-14T08:22:00.002-08:002021-12-14T08:22:22.246-08:00Personal Instructions; Colossians 4:7-18<p> </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pgHPzGrC1bo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-56440640819576225882021-12-07T09:50:00.005-08:002021-12-07T09:50:22.475-08:00Words about Words, Colossians 4:2-6<p> </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fg6AfwkIRPI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-68465747775725605272021-12-02T11:11:00.002-08:002021-12-02T11:11:35.884-08:00Praying for a Wise Church, Colossians 1:9-14<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gXsjI2MRH7I" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-29235782425974722672021-12-02T11:10:00.003-08:002021-12-02T11:10:45.494-08:00Alpha and Omega, Colossians 1:15-20<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xCqLYfNjERg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-77985894340490265032021-12-02T11:10:00.000-08:002021-12-02T11:10:00.079-08:00The Significance of Reconciliation, Colossians 1:21-23<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4JWoNzGnmhw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-38719911598990216392021-12-02T11:08:00.005-08:002021-12-02T11:08:47.681-08:00The Pastor's Ends and Means, Colossians 1:24-29<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vh2kIEGvh-c" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-52563277247236780322021-12-02T11:08:00.001-08:002021-12-02T11:08:04.014-08:00Blessed are the Who? Luke 6:20-23<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HBX8G8wPn4o" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-46691330551652036852021-12-02T11:06:00.002-08:002021-12-02T11:06:44.728-08:00Rooted in the Right Place, Colossians 2:6-15<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WUzIPVEGqec" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-91707277764470359092021-12-02T11:05:00.002-08:002021-12-02T11:05:48.835-08:00Knowing the Mystery, Colossians 2:1-5<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fFdIkxzRlA8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-56605226986994003372021-12-02T11:04:00.004-08:002021-12-02T11:04:56.181-08:00The Source of Real Change, Colossians 2:16-23<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nhmmtVzlozk" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-31027412414080181952021-12-02T11:03:00.003-08:002021-12-02T11:03:57.078-08:00Judges, Waiting For a Better Deliverer<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HX5NtYjoH3c?start=245" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-37973744257617813222021-12-02T11:01:00.005-08:002021-12-02T11:01:53.956-08:00Getting Your Head in the Right Place<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZRV6W9lbEAo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-78202345258386367272021-12-02T11:01:00.001-08:002021-12-02T11:01:12.863-08:00Old Clothes and New, Colossians 3:6-17<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0TUALCSQaIc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-28429579015926368792021-12-02T11:00:00.001-08:002021-12-02T11:00:02.796-08:00Relating to Authority, Colossians 3:18-4:1<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zFg--jps7t0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-67683321011121047942021-07-08T14:20:00.001-07:002021-07-08T14:20:58.905-07:00God's Provision<p> </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VsiPpzEZAMg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-16322583043615055672021-07-08T14:06:00.002-07:002021-07-08T14:12:23.291-07:00Love Your Enemies<h1 style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/d5e9q866njl76tx/1%20Samuel%2024_03_28_2021_.mp3?dl=0">Audio Link</a></h1><p style="text-align: center;">Sermon starts at 8:30</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Love Your Enemies</span></p><br /><br />1 Samuel 24, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 03/28/2021<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Introduction<br /><br />You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />These are the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48. Do you find them uncomfortable? I do. Jesus doesn’t say tolerate your enemies, hate your enemies, be understanding of your enemies, or fight your enemies. Jesus says: love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. I grew up primarily reading the New King James which translates that phrase pray for those who spitefully use you. This is emphatically not the message of a culture obsessed with self-care. We think of ways to cut people off, to not have to deal with them, and in darker moments, we look for ways to get even and assert our power over our enemies. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As with all sinful inclinations, this is not a new part of the human condition. David faced the same temptation, the temptation to take vengeance into his own hands and to literally cut off his enemies, not once, but at least three times. This theme of vengeance withheld, of David refusing to take the life of his enemies and to instead entrust his situation to the Lord, is the theme which binds together chapters 24-26. We will come back and dwell on that more specifically in future studies, but this morning I want to begin with the positive side of that negative statement: if David doesn’t seek vengeance, what is he doing instead? Loving his enemies.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Patience. Loving your enemies means trusting God’s timing. v1-7<br /><br />When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’ ” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The tension in this scene is palpable. Verse one opens with Saul returning from his dealings with the Philistines, and we sense a shift in the focus of the author, as he doesn’t even tell us how that went. The Philistines have been an ever-present menace in the book of 1 Samuel, yet here as we enter this story all we know is that Saul left to chase them (1 Samuel 23:28), and now he has returned to his real business: chasing David. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And Saul comes out in full force. He takes his “chosen men” the three-thousand who have shone themselves truly worthy in battle, and marches into the wilderness of En-Gedi outnumbering David’s forces 5 to 1. This wilderness of En-Gedi is just that: wilderness. The spring of En-Gedi was an oasis in the midst of some otherwise uninviting country, as evidenced by the name of the place: Wildgoats’ Rocks. Wild goats and wild sheep are both pretty notorious for their abilities to eek out a living in some of the roughest country there is. They are the sort of animal that doesn’t have natural defenses to fight or the speed to flee from predators, so they pick these places to live where they can climb around on steep and dangerous cliff faces and rocky crags that no bear or lion or wild dog could handle. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And it is here that David and his men are making their temporary dwelling. But then the unexpected happens. Saul, hot on David’s trail, needs to relieve himself. This Hebrew euphemism is not talking about taking a nap-Saul is needing to take a pit stop along the wilderness highway, if you will. There are other euphemisms for bowel movements in the Old Testament, but this particular one, to “cover his feet” in Hebrew, is only used in one other place. This is pointed out by R.F. Youngblood, who says the following: “The narrator may have chosen this particular euphemism for defecation because it occurs elsewhere only in Judges 3:24, where it is used of Eglon king of Moab, who “alone in the upper room of his summer palace” (Jdg 3:20) was killed by the judge Ehud. Saul king of Israel, going inside the cave in search of privacy, is similarly unaware that he is placing himself in mortal danger.”<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />What Saul doesn’t know is that in the recesses of this cave are 600 men, most of whom are chomping at the bit to kill him. They say to David here is an opportunity from God! Kill him now! Imagine you’re in their position-running scared, to Gath, to Moab, to Judah, criss-crossing the land. Always on the razor edge of hunger, at least twice now within a hair’s breadth of being caught by the king. And now here he is, totally exposed-literally!-right in front of you. Everything happens for a reason, right? The reason here seems obvious. It’s David’s turn to be the hunter, not the hunted. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So in the latter half of verse 4 we find David sneaking down carefully (imagine how tense this would be in a rocky cave in which every sound would echo!) and slicing off the corner of Saul’s robe. Wait, slicing what?! He should be slicing his abdomen, his heart, his head, but his robe? What is this nonsense?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As if this were not enough, he gets back to his men and is conscience stricken-he should not even have sliced Saul’s robe, as this would be seen as an act of violence and rebellion against the king. I think we ought to see this as sin, considering the only other time we find this phrase in the Old Testament is 2 Samuel 24, where David is conscience stricken, heart stricken, after having conducted the census contrary to God’s will. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We find David’s reasoning along these lines in verse 6, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.” David sees an incongruity, an incompatibility, between trusting in the God who anointed Saul and seeking to do Saul harm. David’s men don’t see this, and we are told that David had to persuade them otherwise. But persuade, though accurate, is a pretty tame translation of the Hebrew phase. Several commentators note that this phrase means to “tear apart.” It’s as if David has to verbally tear into his men to get them off the idea that he should have been tearing into Saul with his sword. Saul is the Lord’s anointed. For David to do violence to him is to cease trusting God and to trust in his own power and plan.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Brothers and sisters, if we are to love our enemies, it has to begin with this sort of rock-solid confidence in the plan of God in our lives and for our lives. A trust that God in his Divine Providence isn’t just working things out for our temporary relief, but rather for our eternal good. David takes a long-term view here that is utterly necessary for us if we are to maintain obedience in any area, but especially when it comes to dealing with those who would use and abuse us. He knows Saul is in the wrong. But that does not justify him wronging Saul in return. Do you believe that God is in control of every situation? Do you believe that he is indeed just, and will vindicate his children in the end? <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I think the words of Peter are helpful to us here. In 1 Peter 2:19-24 he writes, For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Truth. Loving your enemies means speaking the truth in love. v8-15<br /><br />8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. 9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. 12 May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! 15 May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.” <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Lest we take the first point, that we are to trust God, and interpret that as an imperative to be doormats, what we see David to next is to speak. He speaks, as Paul says in Ephesians 4:15, the truth in love. I think we see three facets of his speech to Saul which are instructive for us.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />First, he speaks the truth respectfully. Though Saul is out hunting David’s life, David calls out to him, My lord the king! In verse 11 he says, see, my father. There is no hint of bitterness in his words. Even as he calls into question the reasons for Saul’s hunting and hatred of him, David is careful to paint things in an inviting way: Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks to do you harm’? Does David think this is all the result of some bad counsel? No. But instead of being accusatory toward Saul (eg, why is your heart so wicked and foolish?), David is offering Saul the opportunity to distance himself from what are wicked and foolish thoughts. So again, David is respectful. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Second, David speaks the truth frankly. He reasons clearly with Saul about the irrationality of his paranoia. As stated above, he does so in a way which is respectful, but it isn’t squishy. In verse 10 he lets Saul in on the fact that he was in the cave with him and everyone else wanted Saul killed-but David said no. Does Saul question this? Well, David has the corner of Saul’s robe in his hand to prove the case. Imagine you’re Saul hearing this-you look down at the corner of your robe and realize there is no corner of my robe. It must be a mixture of humiliation, shock, and terror. His life was in David’s hands. But David did not press that advantage, he did not kill the Lord’s anointed. And so David can say in verse 11, there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. You can’t be much more clear or frank than that.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Third, David speaks the truth about God’s judgement. This may not be the first thing to mind when we think of speaking the truth in love, but it is an important aspect of doing so. In both verses 12 and 15 David invokes the Lord as the ultimate judge of this situation, and the implication is clear: he isn’t going to side with Saul. Rather, he will plead [David’s] cause and deliver [his] life from [Saul’s] hand. If this weren’t clear enough, David quotes an ancient proverb in verse 13, Out of the wicked comes wickedness. Again, David isn’t exactly hiding his meaning: evaluate your actions, Saul, and think about how God sees them. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So loving our enemies begins with trusting God. But it also includes speaking the truth in love: respectfully, clearly, and honestly. But is love all trust and words? <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Action. Loving your enemies means good to them. V16-22<br /><br /> As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the LORD put me into your hands. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Swear to me therefore by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.” 22 And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Finally, as the chapter concludes, we hear from Saul. And he seems genuinely heartbroken over the situation. Now, we’re conditioned already in this book to be pretty skeptical of Saul’s tears, and to wonder if they are of a crocodilian nature. But nonetheless he does seem moved by David’s mercy toward him and acknowledges that David has repaid him good as opposed to the evil he has dealt in David’s direction (v17). Not only this, take into account how public this is. Before both armies it would seem, these two men are crying out to one another. And Saul doesn’t even have categories for the mercy he has received from David. In verse 19 he asks, For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? The obvious answer to that rhetorical: of course not! Yet here David has done just that. Saul then turns to invoke a blessing upon David: may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. Maybe he should have said, for what you didn’t do. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />But, like the manipulative person in your life, if you give Saul an inch he wants a whole mile. David spares his life, and now Saul starts asking for favors. He acknowledges in v20 that David will have the throne (though Jonathan told us that Saul already knew this back in 23:17), then in v21 he wants David to swear by the Lord that he won’t utterly destroy the house of Saul. Now we know from David’s covenant with Saul’s son Jonathan in chapter 20 that David has essentially already agreed to this. But we need to realize what a big ask this is, and how audacious and frankly uncouth it is of Saul to request. If one family dynasty is to replace another of course the new king would destroy all of the male family members of the previous dynasty, this is how you keep order in an authoritarian monarchy. Yet David, though spitefully used and persecuted by Saul at every turn, extends this kindness to him. He swears to Saul that he will not cut off his descendants or name from Israel. Loving his enemy started with trusting God, moved to speaking the truth, but it came to fulfillment in actual action. He would not take vengeance on Saul’s family. In fact, we will find later on his positive embrace of some who are Saul’s descendants. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Do you struggle with this? Does the command to love your enemies seem unfair, impractical, or just plain strange? Friend, realize that the only basis you have for hope in this life or the next is that this is precisely the kind of unfair, impractical, and strange love which has been extended to you in Christ. The apostle Paul says in Romans 5:10-11, 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Do you see what he called us? Enemies. You and I are natural enemies of God because of our sin. And yet he sent his Son to reconcile us to himself by his death on the cross, where he not only passed over the opportunity to punish us, but voluntarily took that punishment on himself. David’s greater Son has a mercy which extends even beyond that which was given by David in the cave. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Have you received his love, his forgiveness of your rebellious and enemy status? If not, come to him, it is free for all who believe. The king has declared pardon, and not only pardon, but reconciliation: status as a child of the king for all who come to the Father through faith in his Son. If you have already received him: Freely you have received, freely give. The Father loved you when you were his enemy. Now you are free to love your enemies, because of him. <p><br /></p>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-63222742379326204642021-07-08T14:02:00.001-07:002021-07-08T14:02:37.803-07:00Three Features of a God-Sheltered Life<h1 style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/motfnvzwwh6geot/1%20Samuel%2023_03_21_2021_.mp3?dl=0">Audio Link</a></h1><div style="text-align: center;">Sermon starts around 15 minutes</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9595906d-7fff-3ac3-482e-961b19f533d4"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three Features of God-Sheltered Life</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Samuel 23, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 03/21/2021</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introduction</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We live in a world preoccupied with the notion of power. Who has power? Who has been deprived of power? Who is using their power to harm others? Whose power is on the rise?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And lest we go decrying the modern world and all its evils, the Bible confronts us with much the same picture of humanity that we find in the news: desperately hungry to get ahead, to protect number one, regardless of the consequences to others. The obsession with power is not modern. It is human. David is facing a serious threat as he is irrationally hated and pursued by power-hungry king Saul. And while David has occasionally looked for shelter in other places, he has only one true source of refuge: the shadow of the Almighty. David is leading a life that is God-sheltered. In our text today, 1 Samuel 23, we will see three features of that life.</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Listening Prayer, v1-13</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you remember from last week, David at this point is in the forest of Hereth, which is in Judah (1 Samuel 22:5). And while he is here, messengers come to him with a report: the Philistines are attacking Keilah. Keilah would be about 18 miles southwest of Jerusalem, which places it out on the western edge of Judea, and thus very close to Philistine territory and prone to raiding.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And to have the threshing floors be raided is a huge deal. Not only is this where they are separating the grain from the chaff, this is also likely where all the threshed grain would be stored. It would be the equivalent of someone coming and emptying every grain silo around. What should they do? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They reach out to that renowned Philistine killer, the slayer of Goliath, David the outlaw. And David seems willing to go, but before he rushes into anything he approaches God in prayer: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shall I go and attack these Philistines?, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he asks in verse two. But when God answers in the affirmative, David’s army of 600 men seem less than convinced. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David, we’re scared and on the run just hiding out here in the Judean wilderness, why would we go down and engage in battle with the Philistines?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seems a reasonable response, right? But David is undeterred. He simply asks God again, and the Lord again assures victory. But note the emphasis this time: rather than it being on David saving Keilah (v2), now the emphasis is on what God will do: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I will give the Philistines into your hand” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(v4).</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So David and his men go down, and carry the day. Keilah is saved, and they not only defeat the Philistines but take their livestock (which is interesting, why do the Philistines have livestock here?). God has delivered the city by the hand of David. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We then get an interesting note in v6, which Dale Ralph Davis argues is the hinge point in verses 1-13. Everything centers around what simply looks like an informational point. Remember that in chapter 22 Doeg the Edomite, under the guidance of King Saul, killed the 85 priests in Nob, and their families, and the only person to escape was Abiathar, who then flees to David. Well, here we are told that Abiathar brought an ephod. Now, all of the priests wore a linen ephod under their clothing, but the high priest had a breastplate that went with his which had a container for the Urim and Thummim. And as Tim Chester notes in his commentary, “We do not know what the Urim and Thummim looked like, but they were used for receiving revelation from God.”</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Perhaps they were like dice, some suggest that they were stones of two different colors, we aren’t sure. The point of verse 6, though, is that the priestly means for seeking the Lord’s guidance had been brought with Abiathar to David. Which will come in handy next.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.” Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things start to look shaky for David again starting in verse 7 as Saul hears of his presence in the city and musters troops to go attack him. It is worth pointing out that the language of Saul here, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“God has given him into my hand”</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, paralleled by his pious sounding expression down in verse 21, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“May you be blessed by the Lord” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are just that-pious sounding. They are not an accurate window into his heart. This matters, because as Christians it’s pretty easy to get excited any time you hear an athlete or a politician or some other public figure “thank God” or say “God bless America” or tag “and Jesus is my Lord and Savior” to the end of some statement. But without wanting to throw shade at any individual, we ought to take seriously the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:16, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You shall know them by their fruits </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(NKJV). Saul can use pious language here, but he’s either misreading the situation because of a heart blinded by his sin, or he’s intentionally using duplicitous language. In either case, his invocation of God is empty. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the stunning contrasts we see in this chapter is between the relationships of David and Saul to the city of Keilah. David goes there to save the city from the Philistines, while Saul is eager to lay siege in order to capture or kill David.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> David is again seen as fulfilling the role that Saul </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">should </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be performing, but because Saul is so dead set on maintaining his own power, he’s failing to do the most basic parts of his job- like protecting his land from invaders. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saul’s looming attack drives David back to where he was before Keilah: looking to God in prayer. In verse 9 he urges Abiathar to bring the ephod near so that he can go to the Lord for guidance. He asks the Lord whether the people will hand him over to Saul, and whether Saul will come down. After God answers that Saul will come down, David repeats the first part of the question and again receives an affirmative answer. Saul is coming, and the city will turn him over. This might seem awfully ungrateful on the part of a city who has just been saved by David’s hand, but remember, these people probably still have the city of Nob fresh in their minds. Lining up with David against Saul (or even simply having that be Saul’s perception of you) could be pretty disastrous. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David takes from this the clear message that he needs to again be on the run. He may have felt some relief upon first entering this city-maybe his time in the wilderness is through and he can rest. But instead he has to flee into the wilderness of Ziph. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do we gain from these first 13 verses of the chapter? I think what we see, both driving David into and out of the city, is a reliance upon Listening Prayer as his means of spiritual guidance. Saul is constantly getting human messengers to come to him, bringing him all the intelligence he can gather. And while David receives some of that as well, his source of information for decision making is ultimately the Lord himself.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> What do I mean by listening prayer? Let me quote here from Dale Ralph Davis, </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A contemporary believer may say, “I see that, and it’s all very nice, but I don’t receive the kind of precise, direct guidance that David did.” Neither do I. Because I don’t need it. I’m not the chosen king. It does my ego no damage to concede that David’s function in salvation history is far more crucial than mine. The fortunes of the kingdom of Yahweh in this world rest far more on David’s preservation than on mine. What was essential for Yahweh’s elect king </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to have</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he received.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Note that last sentence: what was essential or crucial for him to have, he received. I want to challenge you this morning: we can often be tempted to feel that the old Sunday school answers of prayer and Bible reading just aren’t enough. That somehow God owes us more guidance than this, or maybe if we become more spiritual we can access another level of spiritual power. But that’s not what the Word says. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every good work. That means, wait for it... every good work. God’s word is sufficient. Now, that doesn’t mean it gives us all the answers we want. But this is where reading in prayer and praying the word is key. This word was inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, and the same Spirit is the one who enlivens it and makes it effective to the dividing of soul and spirit, as Hebrews 4:12 says. The attitude David has of praying and listening to the Lord is the same attitude we ought to take toward the both prayer and Bible reading. Is your prayer life dry? Spend a few days where you set aside the laundry list of requests and demands, and let the Spirit shape your prayer life by the Bible. Is your Bible reading dull and boring? Stop reading for a few minutes and pray line by line over a few verses. God, what does it mean that you are my Shepherd? Help me to be satisfied in you. Would you cause me to know the sweetness of lying down in green pastures and drinking from the still waters of your sweet salvation?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A life sheltered by God looks first of all to him alone as the source of our wisdom, our guidance, and our strength. We don’t need Abiathar with Urim and Thummim, nor do we need the prophet Gad traveling with us. We have the Holy Spirit, sent by the Son of God, our perfect prophet and priest, and he is speaking to us in his word. So pray, and do so with an attentive ear to this book.</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Strengthening Partnership, v14-18</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand. David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” And the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So David heads south at this point into the wilderness of Ziph. The town of Ziph is located about 12 miles southeast of Keilah</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so though he hasn’t traveled far, David has once again escaped from Saul. For the moment.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And here I need to issue a correction, because I’m pretty sure that when we looked at David and Jonathan’s goodbye in chapter 20 I said that was the last time they met, which as you can see here is obviously wrong. So I apologize for not being careful with my facts on that point. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is ironic in the text that Saul is unable to find David, yet Jonathan seems to have no such difficulty. But what I want to focus on is not so much the fact that Jonathan came out, as </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">why </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he came out to meet his friend. What did he come to do? Verse 16 tells us, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to strengthen his hand in God. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And this is precisely what David needs. It must have been a massively discouraging time. In chapter 22 we read of a whole town being decimated because of tangential connection to David. In 23 we find David saving a city and then immediately being betrayed by them and forced to flee again. What did David need? He needed to be reminded of God’s promises to him. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enter Jonathan. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my Father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Note the four parts of that statement: First, do not fear. It has often been noted that this is the most frequent command in the bible, and for good reason: we seem constantly to be finding things to fear. Why need David not fear? The third part: because he shall be king over Israel. This was God’s promise to him. And if God is to keep that promise, then it must also be true that, part two, murderous King Saul will not be able to lay hands on him. The only part of this statement that fails to come to fruition is part four, Jonathan’s personal promise: I shall be next to you. God hadn’t promised this, and it fell outside Jonathan's power to deliver. But even in this statement we find his loyalty to David, and his confidence that God will indeed seat David on the throne of Israel. As Joyce Baldwin puts it, “It was not only the warmth of human friendship that strengthened David, but much more Jonathan’s certainty as to God’s purpose for the future.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you have friends like this? Those who will confidently come alongside you, even in the worst of times, and assure of God’s promises? Friends who will remind you to lift your eyes off of your feet of clay and look toward the celestial city, to borrow Bunyan’s imagery? Perhaps more pressing: have you committed to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">being </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that kind of friend? We can offer all of the platitudes in the world and it won’t matter a hill of beans in the end. But point people to the word of God, and you may have an enduring impact for their good. One key feature of the God-sheltered life is having friends who remind you that God is, in fact, sheltering you. Which is especially important when the enemy closes in.</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kind Providence, v19-29</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David’s circumstances actually get worse after Jonathan leaves. The men of Ziph, men of the tribe of Judah, David’s kinsmen, preemptively inform Saul of his whereabouts. After Saul urges them to do a double-check, searching out carefully all of the hiding places (v21-24), he then comes down after them with his army. And here is where the tension in this chapter reaches a fever-pitch, with verse 26 reading, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David has been able to elude Saul time and again, but here it seems like the gig is up. Verse 27 says Saul is closing in, and this is the part of the movie where we close our eyes because the hero is about to be captured and killed. Until a messenger reaches Saul. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hurry, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Breathe. What timing. And frankly, what an unexpected response from Saul, who had previously been callous to the needs of Keilah. But now this message comes, and he breaks off the chase, just as he was going to capture his prey. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was in this circumstance that David penned Psalm 54, </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. A MASKIL OF DAVID, WHEN THE ZIPHITES WENT AND TOLD SAUL, “IS NOT DAVID HIDING AMONG US?” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might. O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them. With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good. For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David sought the Lord in listening prayer, he was encouraged by the Lord in a strengthening friendship, and most of all, he was protected by the Lord’s kind providence. Do you know this same Lord? Come to Jesus, and he will give you that same friendship, that same protection, that salem nnNNnNn shelter. As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:17-18, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-51002713404222202372021-07-08T13:59:00.003-07:002021-07-08T13:59:27.216-07:00Taking Refuge<h2 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/f47p5lkmrh4ytnc/1%20Samuel%2022%2003_14_2021_.mp3?dl=0"> Audio Link</a></h2><div style="text-align: center;">sermon starts at 13:45</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-065e44ae-7fff-2f2e-2eac-3cb894a5ff67"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taking Refuge</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Samuel 22; Remsen Bible Fellowship; 03/14/2021 </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introduction</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The world we live in is not safe. Ever since the entry of sin into the world in Genesis chapter three, the human experience has been characterized by suffering, pain, and ultimately death. We might think that as Christians we are granted some sort of stay or exception in this order of the world, which is precisely the offer of prosperity teachers like Benny Hin or Joyce Meyer or Joel Osteen. You can have your best life now! Healing now, prosperity and material wealth now, just have faith! But of course, this is not the promise of Jesus. Jesus said to his disciples, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this world you will have tribulation </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(John 16:33).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This expectation of worldly trouble has been a mark of Christianity all the way through. Perhaps you remember John Newton’s line from Amazing Grace, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come/‘tis grace hath brought me safe thus far/and grace will lead me home. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grace has </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">already </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">brought us through many dangers, toils, and snares-and will continue to do so. Where then, do we turn for such amazing grace? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you would, open your bibles to the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 22.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David Learns to Take Refuge in God, v 1-5</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.” And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we pick back up in our story, you will remember that David has been in Gath, because for some reason he thought going to God’s enemies was a good idea. The plan backfires, though, and he ends up pleading insanity. Acish is disgusted by David’s behavior, and thus tosses him from the royal presence, and David is saved. So now, since he is not welcome in Gath, he departs and heads for the cave of Adullam.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And once he arrives in the cave, word of his presence leaks. And this cave then becomes the happening place not only for David’s family (v1), but for every misfit, outcast, and loser in Israel (v2). Not exactly the army David would have drawn up for himself. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey, want to build an army?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sure-could you give me all of the people in distress, all the people who can’t pay their bills, and all the malcontents?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nonetheless, this is who David has. And the presence of so many of these folks, along with their willingness to defect to David at a time when everyone knows he is being hunted points to how far Saul’s prominence in Israel had fallen. He’s losing his grip on the kingship. And while he will retain his throne until his death, things will get increasingly worse for him.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In verse three we find David leaving the cave of Adullam, which was in the land of Judah, and heading for Mizpeh in Moab. This might seem strange at first given that he had just been in Philistine country and it hadn’t gone well. Why head to the Moabites? But if we remember on Jesse’s side of the family is a Moabite connection. Who is Jesse’s grandmother and thus David’s great-grandmother? Ruth, the Moabitess (Ruth 4:17-22). So if David is going to take his parents someplace safe, away from Saul, Moab does seem to make sense. But what he does next is head to a mountain stronghold, apparently also in Moab. Again, this seems a logical move. Saul is chasing David, and he needs a place to be safe, right? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enter the prophet Gad. Gad will be a frequent player in David’s story, but here we have our first record of him, and this is his message:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> get out of here!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Go into the land of Judah. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now this seems ludacris. David is safe in the stronghold. The king of Moab will keep his territory safe, even if he couldn’t, a mountain stronghold would provide good natural defenses for the 400 discontent soldiers David is hauling along with himself. Why would God send him back to Judah? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One reason could simply be God’s desire for David to be seen by the people as someone who is present and for them. Remember there is a period of </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">years </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">where David is on the run from Saul, and if he just ducks out of the country that whole time, the people may well not view him as the king when he gets back. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But far more important, more fundamental, in my view, is this: God is teaching David to look for another stronghold. Turn with to Psalm 57, where we’ll read the first three verses: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for in you my soul takes refuge;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">till the storms of destruction pass by.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 I cry out to God Most High,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to God who fulfills his purpose for me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 He will send from heaven and save me;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he will put to shame rhim who tramples on me. Selah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God will send out this steadfast love and his faithfulness!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David was looking for a refuge, but what he needed to see was that the refuge he needed most was the refuge he already had: the personal presence of God. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In you my soul takes refuge,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> he writes in verse 1. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the shadow of your wings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where do you look for refuge? What makes you feel safe? Is it something you can control, something you can manage? The ways we look for refuge in this life are a lot like holding onto a little tarp in the middle of a hurricane. So long as you hold onto it, it’s definitely better than </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">having the tarp. As the writer in Ecclesiastes says, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">money answers everything. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life’s easier when you have it. But what happens when you lose your grip on the tarp and the gail force winds of life rip it away? Whose wings will shelter you then? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brothers, sisters: we must flee to the Lord for our safety. David writes, again from the cave, in Psalm 142:5, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The reason we need an eternal God for our refuge is that this world is full of trials-and many antichrists are coming. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many Antichrists have Come, v6-19</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.” Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, and he inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.” And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the LORD. Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the story turns back to Saul, we find a sorry scene. He is back home in Gibeah, sitting under a tree, whining about how hard life is for him. “Why don’t any of you love me as much as you should? What favors has David done for you that you all treat me so mean? No one feels sorry for me.” (v6-8)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Into this pity party enters a character from the previous chapter, Doeg the Edomite. One of the things the author surely wants us to notice is that Doeg is, indeed, an Edomite. That is to say, he is a descendant of Esau, not Jacob. He is not part of the people of Israel, yet he has been given this high role in the kingdom and now is serving as a key counselor to Saul. The people of Israel wanted a king like all the other nations, and now they have a king like those nations who takes not only his cues, but also his counsel, from those surrounding nations. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you remember in 21:7, we read that while David was visiting Ahimelech, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsman.” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seems an odd blip in that narrative, but now we are going to see its significance: Doeg is going to rat David out. After Doeg spills the beans on David’s visit to Ahimelech at Nob (v10-11), Saul summons Ahimelech and his entire household to himself. Upon bringing him in, Saul essentially accuses Ahimelech of sedition against the crown. And as you might imagine for someone who considers himself loyal, this catches Ahimelech off guard. In v14 he says, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We might paraphrase: So, since when is serving your most loyal servant a disloyalty to you? I don’t know what’s going on between you, but my hands are clean. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Saul is beyond reason at this point. He doesn’t see the obvious truth of Ahimelech’s statement, and instead orders him and all the other priests to be killed. But there is a ray of hope at the end of v17-Saul’s servants refuse to follow this order! They see the insanity and apparently are happier to face the wrath of Saul than of God. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But then enters Doeg the Edomite, again. As I read chapter 22 this week I kept associating Doeg with Grima Wormtongue from the Lord of the Rings. He is just that slimy character who makes you want to vomit every time they come on stage. And Doeg not only follows the command to kill Ahimelech and the other priests, some 85 persons, but then takes it even further: he goes to Nob and slaughters their families, their animals, he destroys the whole of their whole property and lives. Tim Chester offers this helpful comment: “Here is the terrible irony, the sign of how far Saul has fallen. In 15:2–3, God told Saul to conduct a holy war against the Gentiles. Now in 22:18–19, Saul tells a Gentile to conduct a holy war against God.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saul has set himself up against the Lord’s anointed, against the christ. Saul has become an antichrist figure in the narrative. 1 John 2:18 states, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyone who sets themself up as the one to be worshipped and who demands unflinching loyalty is an antichrist. The seed of the serpent, seeking to strike the heel of the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). How can one be safe from the antichrists who come? Flee to the true Christ, the Lord’s anointed.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flee to the Lord’s Anointed, v20-23</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We find out in verse 20 that Doeg the Edomite wasn’t completely successful in his evil mission to wipe out the priests of God. One son of Ahimelech, Abiathar, escapes to David. On his coming to David and relating the events that took place, David is clearly contrite over his culpability in the death of the priests and people of Nob. But he also makes a curious statement in v23, “</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saul is after Abiathar for one reason: his connection to David. And yet David says, fear not: with me you are safe. And in this statement I think we find an enormously important principle: being identified with the Lord’s anointed may land you in a world of earthly trouble and tribulation. But it’s the only place you’re eternally safe. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a principle the importance of which I cannot overstate. We are living through a shift, that on a broader national stage has already taken place, and it will eventually work it’s way thoroughly into our lives as well. That shift is one from a form of christianity being the dominant culture, such that even if people weren’t believers they were tolerant or even appreciative of biblical belief and practices; to a culture where those same beliefs and practices-being genuinely and clearly identified with Christ-will become seen as socially negative, or even evil. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This has been a process long in the making, in fact historian Carl R. Trueman in his book </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> traces it back at least as far as the 18th Century and the work of Jean-Jaque Rousseau. But it has become acutely obvious with the triumph of the sexual revolution in the past decade. And I think a lot of Christians feel like Ahimelech before Saul: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">how did my normal views that everyone shared 20 years ago all of a sudden become culturally offensive and even repugnant? Why does being a Christian now mean I’m the bad guy? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ve been caught flat footed.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But being a Christian has almost always, across time and history, meant being an outsider, a cultural misfit, someone looked upon with suspicion by the watching world. Being tied to Jesus will mean we may get treated like Jesus. John 15:18-20, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But if this sounds like doom and gloom and defeatism, it isn’t. Because here’s the good news: Jesus always wins. That verse we quoted earlier from John 16:33, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the world you will have tribulation</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, it continues on to say, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But take heart; I have overcome the world. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not he “will”</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">overcome the world. He has. Even though we wait to see that in its fullness, it is as good as done. So certain as to be spoken of in the past tense. Which means that there is no safer place to be than at his side. No better position to be in than fighting his battles with him. No better refuge in the time of storm. The greater Son of David already is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High (Hebrews 1:3). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David learned at the beginning of our text that the only true safety came from looking to God as his strong tower and refuge. In the middle of the text, an antichrist rises to fight the people of God, and in the end Abiathar finds that the only safety to be found is in fleeing to the Lord’s anointed. Fleeing to the Christ. Have you taken refuge in Jesus, the Christ with a capital C? Do you find your identity in being tied to Jesus? In this world it may cause troubles: but take heart, he has overcome the world. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-68064558482186000472021-07-08T13:54:00.003-07:002021-07-08T13:54:37.559-07:00When You Are Afraid<h2 style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/ryw9y8y196km1mp/1%20Samuel%2021%2002_28_2021.mp3?dl=0">Audio Link</a></h2><div style="text-align: center;">Sermon starts at 17:30</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">1 Samuel 21, 02/28/2021</div>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-36596679997627412942021-07-08T13:51:00.003-07:002021-07-08T13:51:43.698-07:001 Samuel 20<p> </p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/kckbyy5z6sswu49/1%20Samuel%2020_02_14_2021_.mp3?dl=0">Audio Link</a></h2><p style="text-align: center;">Sermon starts at 18:25</p>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-17354726095109272702021-07-08T13:41:00.000-07:002021-07-08T13:41:02.820-07:00A Man in the Gap<h1 style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/n73vy7ohjevh7cn/Church%2012-6-20.mp3?dl=0">Audio Link</a></h1><div style="text-align: center;">(Sermon starts around 18 minutes)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-41d74933-7fff-a25d-cdc1-26c3bb452901"><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Man in the Gap</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Samuel 12:19-25, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 12/06/2020</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introduction:</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with your whole heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week we discussed chapter 12 as a whole, taking as our theme the importance of remembering. Israel had forgotten her God, she had forgotten his past provision and protection, and as a result when a new threat came knocking she ran for a human savior. Nonetheless, there was hope. God does not demand that you come to him from a point of perfection; rather, he invites you and even demands you to come from where you are right now. So, though the people had sinned grievously, Samuel can say to them in vs20-21, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What grace! What mercy! Even in this moment of national rebellion, Samuel can hold forth the hope that God will indeed accept them if they trust in him rather than in vain and empty things. That’s a hope each of us needs when we sin, for to sin </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to trust in vain and empty things, rather than in the Lord God.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This hope can be hard to believe, and that hard-to-believe-ness is upped when you add</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Samuel’s</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> faithfulness to the people. He promises not only that God will listen to their prayers, but that he himself will continue to pray for them and to instruct them. It reminded me of a story from American history. In the year 1750, Jonathan Edwards, the famous Congregationalist preacher/theologian/philosopher, was fired by his church, after serving them for over 20 years. There were a number of precipitating factors including some botched pastoral decisions and long standing family rivalries in the church, but the issue that ultimately caused for him to be removed from the pastorate was his insistence that only those who actually professed faith in Jesus Christ should be admitted into church membership and welcomed at the Lord’s table. Stop and think about that. One of the most famous preachers of the 18th century was fired for saying you have to be a Christian to partake in the Lord’s supper. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What makes that story all the more remarkable is what comes next. You see, he was a pastor in rural Massachusetts-there weren’t many preachers to come by. So for over a year after being fired, the church continued to ask him to preach Sunday by Sunday. “We don’t like you and don’t want you to be the pastor, but could you come preach to us another 60 or 70 times?” Sometimes a leader can be totally rejected and mistreated by those they lead, and nonetheless continue to love and serve them because of their commitment not only to the people-but to God. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to zero our focus this morning on verse 23, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we focus on one specific verse, I want our framing question to be, who is this man in the gap? What characterizes Samuel’s leadership in this verse? And as we walk through, shaping our thoughts around three I’s (Impulse, Intercession, and Instruction), I also want to ask this question: do these things point beyond Samuel to teach us about someone greater? </span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Impulse</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps I should explain my use of the word impulse before we get too far. When you think of impulse you may jump straight to the idea of a sudden urge or desire, as we mean when we say someone acted on impulse, or I made an impulse purchase. It was something that came suddenly, and then I reacted to that immediate urge. But another definition for the word impulse is that which is a driving or motivating force.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And as we look at Samuel in chapter 12, we should ask, what is his motivating force? Put yourself in his shoes: faithfully serving the people decade after decade, seeing God mercifully grant deliverance from their enemies time after time, and even here seeing him gently move the people through the process of selecting a king. God has been so kind to these people, and you have been there, leading them through it all. And then they reject God. But not only do they reject God, they do it in a way that leaves you as the odd man out. You’re being replaced. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Samuel would have every human reason to simply ditch out on these people. If his driving or motivating force were selfishness, if his primary impulse were to please himself, then to leave these people behind would be no big deal. But notice the beginning of verse 23, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s his impulse here, what’s the “why?” behind his action? Samuel doesn’t want to sin against the Lord. Or, to put it in positive terms, his desire, his aim, his impulse is to please God. And if God has given Samuel the task of serving this nation, how could he give that up simply because of his hurt feelings? “Yahweh also displays that grace...in appointing servants who make the welfare of his people their preoccupation...If the rejected God refuses to forsake his people, how can his rejected servant do so?”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is precisely the sort of leader we all want, isn’t it? Someone focused on the good of the people, someone who comes not simply to prop themselves up, or to stroke their own ego, but who instead is bent on doing what is most beneficial for those in their charge. Where do we see this sort of leadership most clearly exemplified? I would submit to you that while Samuel’s leadership is </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">highly</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> commendable, and we should long for leaders today who hold this same impulse of </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">please God, not self</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, his leadership is still but a shadow of the One in Whom leadership finds it’s true substance.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would direct your attention to Isaiah 53, beginning in verse three, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The suffering servant of Isaiah’s prophecy is to be one despised, rejected, and crushed. For his own sins? No, but because of the sins of the people. And this is clearly Jesus’ own conception of his mission on earth. In Mark 10:42-45, after James and John have asked to be seated in the most powerful places in his kingdom, Jesus says, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who is the greatest leader to ever live? Jesus of Nazareth, eternal God in the flesh. What was his driving impulse? To serve the Father by serving his chosen people. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(John 5:19)</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intercession</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where does this desire to please God lead? Samuel says, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">far be it from that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He sees that a key part of his calling is to pray for the people. To stand between the people and God and intercede on their behalf is a key duty, and we see him doing this all the way through, beginning in chapter 8 where his first response to the nation’s demand for a king is to go talk to God about. He goes looking for Divine help and guidance. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And remember, this is specifically what the people had requested in v19, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pray for your servants. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think we should be encouraged that this was the people’s response. Have you ever been in sin, either feeling like you fell into a pattern unknowingly and can’t find your way out, or you simply chose to willfully disobey God and now see the horrible consequences? There is a temptation in that moment to become hardened. To pull an Adam and Eve, sewing together some leaves and playing the blame game. Or to frankly embrace your sin as your core identity and try to forge ahead without God.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is what so often happens in the course of people walking away from the Lord. There is a particular sin that becomes either more precious to them than God, or simply seems impossible to overcome and so walking with God and being confronted over and over by that sin becomes incredibly inconvenient. And so there is a drift. A drift away from reading the Bible. A drift away from prayer. A drift away from the church. Times of struggle and sin are when we are most tempted to isolate-and it’s when we most need others. We need someone to stand in the gap for us and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pray for us, that we may not die. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christian, do you know that in those times Jesus himself is praying for you? In the moment of your deepest weakness, your hardest trial, your most catastrophic failure and sin-</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">then</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> you can know that the Son of God prays for you. In Luke 22:31-32, Jesus is speaking to a very proud Simon Peter. This is what he says, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did you hear that? Satan wanted to sift Peter, and instead of Jesus saying “no”, or even praying that Peter would come through perfectly resisting, he instead prays that Peter’s </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">faith </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">would not fail. Peter would fail, his action in denying the Lord three times was shameful, but unlike Judas who despaired and killed himself afterward, Peter’s faith does hold. He does turn, and he strengthens the church. Why was he able to? Because Jesus prayed for him. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hebrews 7, the author is speaking of the superior priesthood of Jesus. How he is greater in every way than those priests who came before. And beginning in v23, we read, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did you hear that? For those who draw near to God through Christ, Jesus </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">always lives to make intercession for them.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Which is to say, no matter how bad you’ve blown it, no matter how far from God you feel right now, no matter what you’ve done wrong-if you will turn from those worthless things and trust Jesus as your only hope before the Father, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus himself prays for you. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The one who paid the price of his life on Calvary’s tree is pleading your case before the Father. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Romans 8:34, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instruction</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But as we bring our attention back to 1 Samuel 12:23, we see that praying isn’t the only ministry Samuel has. In the second half of the verse we read, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, Samuel has been doing that very thing throughout this entire chapter. He has instructed them in the right way by reminding them of God’s prior faithfulness. He’s instructed them in the right way by rebuking them for their sinful rebellion. And he further has instructed them in the right way by urging them to stay with God, and to not give themselves over to vain and empty idols. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And again, this is an area for which Samuel is to be commended and followed today by those who would serve God’s people. And it is yet another area where, as good as he was, Samuel was but a shadow of the true Teacher of God’s people who was to come. Jesus came into the world as the very Word or Speech or Thought or Self-Disclosure of God. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(John 1:14). In his ministry Jesus spoke with an absolute and unquestionable authority. After his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5-7, we read these words, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And when Jesus had finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Note what astonishes the crowds. It’s not how wonderful they think his teaching is-much of the Sermon on the Mount would have been deeply offensive to them (as it will be to you if you read it carefully). It’s not how deeply learned he was, how many times he could quote other Rabbi’s and their thoughts. It’s his authority. Jesus, the Son of God, spoke the Word of God with absolute authority. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it is this authoritative word from God that each of us needs to come to God, it’s what we need to understand ourselves rightly before him, hearing his word is a prerequisite to believing in him and being saved, and being taught by his word is the basis on which we are to build our lives. In Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17, we read the following in verses 6-8, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And continuing down to verse 17, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus saw as a key part of his ministry the giving to his people the words of the Father, and we see from places like John 14:25ff, alongside texts like 2 Timothy 3-4, that this work continues today through the ministry of the Holy Spirit speaking via the written word of God. Jesus continues to instruct his people in the Good and the right way.</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conclusion: Our Great Need</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think the most important thing for us to see as we look at a verse like 1 Samuel 12:23 is that such a leader, one whose impulse is to honor the Father, one who prays for the people, and one who instructs the people is not something relegated to the dustbin of ancient Israelite history. We need to see that as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have that kind of leader, and it is Jesus himself. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But is there something to take away in how we look for leaders in the church, and how each of you live as “lay people”, those in the chairs or they pews? I think so.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all, we do need leaders. Leaders, who like Samuel, are not the perfect Son of God, but who do strive to imitate his humble and servant-minded leadership. Who do not seek to bind heavy loads that they are unwilling to lift a finger toward helping with, but rather who will patiently and persistently pray for and instruct the people. That is, essentially, the role of the Christian pastor. My job description is not to literally stand between the congregation and God-there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. But it is to come to him as a shepherd, and plead with the Chief Shepherd that he would be at work in his people, and to come to you and open up his word and teach that you might clearly hear what he has to say. This is what the apostles dedicated themselves to in Acts 6:4, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s my role here, and I want you to hold me accountable to that. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I don’t want you to feel let of the hook in this text, either. Though the direct application, I do believe, is to pastors and church leaders, congregations have a part to play as well. First of all, congregations should look for this kind of leadership, not the things this world typically looks for: charm, good looks, great speaking ability, charisma. Secondly, though, we need to get our arms around this reality: as New Testament believers we have </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">all </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">been given a ministry of praying for one another and of ministering the word to one another. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Ephesians 6:18 Paul instructs believers to be </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paul is saying, part of being a Christian is praying for other Christians! Now by all the saints, I think he is looking across the world-but surely this must begin with those whom we actually know and love in the local church. What of ministering the word? Colossians 3:16 reads, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness is your hearts to God. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We looked at that verse last week in the context of singing. But I don't think the principle needs to be limited there. Do you challenge and encourage one another from God’s word? Nothing is more encouraging to me than when I hear that happening. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope you can see in these verses that we don’t just get benefits from being part of the church (though we certainly do!), but we also gain responsibility to one another. This is part of the great privilege of being a Christian. Following Christ can be genuinely hard at times. But with other believers in our lives lifting us up in prayer, pointing us to God’s word, and reminding us that Jesus himself is on our side, life will not drown us. We may fall, but when we turn, we can strengthen the brothers, because the Lord Jesus himself is with us.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In conclusion, Take hope: Samuel told the people in verse 22 that </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peter picks up that same tone and applies it to Christians in 1 Peter 2:9-10, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We receive mercy through the blood of Christ alone. He has been pleased to bring us into his people. So, when you’ve failed, when you fall, know this: Jesus loves, he’s praying for you, and he will gladly instruct you in the right way. Forsake all worthless gods, and follow Him alone.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-91203912732671773582021-07-08T13:37:00.001-07:002021-07-08T13:37:20.560-07:00Remember<p> </p><h1 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/ofabjlhe2bafsl2/Church%2011-29-20.mp3?dl=0">Audio Link</a></h1><p style="text-align: center;">(sermon starts around minute 24)</p><p><br /></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Remember</span></h3><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1 Samuel 12, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 11/29/2020</span></h3><p><b id="docs-internal-guid-6a56a3a3-7fff-bd90-1966-6dfb86d652a3" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Introduction:</span></h3><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">One of the great dangers for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is forgetting who we are. We can fall prey to viewing the church as merely a social organization to which we belong. Perhaps you see the church as a convenient social activity, a nice occasional add on to your consumer life. It’s a place you go to get a shot of Jesus to get you through. But is this what the church is meant to be?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Israel faced such identity crises many times in her history, perhaps none more so than in the chapters we have covered in recent weeks. The people longed to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">be like all the nations </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">(8:20), and thus they demanded that Samuel the prophet anoint a king to reign over them (8:6, 20). Now we come to chapter 12, on the heels of the great military victory of chapter 11, and Samuel will give his final address as the judge of the people. He has ruled over them for decades, and though he will continue in his prophetic office, his time as a judge concludes in this chapter. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Innocence of Samuel, v1-5</span></h3><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">12 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.” </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Samuel here draws the attention of the people to some obvious facts. First, in v1, he has obeyed their voice. They demanded a king, and here Saul is. Samuel, obeying the voice of the Lord, obeys the voice of the people. He also seems in verse 2 to contrast himself with Saul. He says </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I have walked before you from my youth until this day. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But now it is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">the king who walks before you. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Walking before in this context means to function as a leader, to go ahead, to be the pointman. Samuel has been that, but here he is, an old man with worthless sons, and the people have given up on him and the judgeship. They demanded a king, and so they now have one. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But Samuel wants to make clear that this is not the result of some massive moral failure or corruption on his part. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Here I am, testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">What a bold statement! Samuel is confident that they can’t land any solid punches against him. It’s as if he is saying, really? You thought you needed to replace someone who was actually honest in this position? Good luck with that one! And he is exactly right, they have nothing to say: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">There is no corruption present in Samuel, and the people know that full well.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Why is this important? I think it’s important because Samuel is going to be making some serious accusations later on in the text. And the people can’t be having the escape valve of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">but what were we supposed to do? We just had to do this. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">No they didn’t. It was their own willfulness and lack of faith that brought them here, and they need to know that. Samuel is innocent in their eyes, in Saul’s eyes, and in God’s. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Guilt of the People, v6-18</span></h3><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">6 And Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10 And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king. 13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">In verses 6-11 Samuel narrates for the people a history that would have been familiar to them and is likely familiar to many of us as well. A story of God’s faithfulness to a faithless people. The people head into Egypt to escape famine, and eventually are oppressed and cry to the Lord. And he delivers by the hands of Aaron and Moses. They come into the promised land and forget God. He turns them over into the hands of their enemies, and they cry to him again. And what happens? Every time, without fail, he sends a deliverer. From Jerubbaal (Gideon), Barak, Jephtath, and now Samuel himself. Each of these, along with the many others along the way, were God’s answer to the needs of his people. When they repented of their idolatry and trusted the Lord, he delivered them. He had always been faithful. To quote Old Testament scholar Joyce Baldwin, “In order to understand their own situation in relation to their covenant God, those of Saul’s generation needed to see how they had been brought to their land, and had experienced both defeat and victory, depending on their loyalty to the Lord. Even in the times of apostasy, once they turned to the Lord in repentance, he had sent deliverers.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But how had they responded this last time? Nahash drew near, and instead of pleading with God for mercy, the people cried out for a king. They had a desperate need for God and they grasped for a man instead. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">To demonstrate just how God thought about this, Samuel calls down a sign from the Lord. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Wheat harvest would have been in May or June, after the rainy season, thus this would have been a sure sign of God responding to Samuel. Further, it would have the potential to be devastating to the people if the storm were bad enough to damage the mature wheat. The last thing a farmer wants is a storm to come destroy his crops. God has spoken. Samuel is innocent before the people. And the people are guilty before the Lord. How are they to respond?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Response God Desires, v19-25</span></h3><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The people gathered here at Gilgal seem to be sensitive to the word of the Lord through Samuel, or at least able to recognize a supernatural sign when they see one. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">We have added to all our sins the evil</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">, they say, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">to ask for ourselves a king. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But Samuel has encouragement for them, because the same God who had rescued Israel from Sisera and from Pharoah was present for them in their day, if they would but remember that he was their God and they his people. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Samuel’s message for the people is clear: God loves you, and pleased him to make you a people set apart for himself. For his name’s sake, for the sake of his own reputation, honor, and glory, God will not forsake you. It reminds us of Psalm 23, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">you lead me in paths of righteousness, for your name’s sake. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But they must remember that Yahweh and Yahweh alone is their God, and not turn after the vain and worthless gods of the people around them. They must keep their focus on him.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Remember</span></h3><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">How do we bring these lessons home to roost for ourselves today? I would contend that as we read this chapter, the fundamental issue the people of Israel suffered from was amnesia. They forgot who their God was, and thus they forgot who they were. How can we guard ourselves from the same fate? How can we </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">remember? </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The first thing to point out are a couple of personal and private habits that are important. Do you read your Bible regularly? Psalm 1:1-2 tells us, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">How can he mediate on the word? He must be consuming it, and then thinking about it. And that meditation moves beyond a mere cursory reading, it seems to imply a chewing, mulling process that would require either a slow and meditative reading style or memorizing so that he can meditate when apart from the word. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And we need to pray. I initially wrote “of course we need to pray.” I wrote of course we need to do that, because you all know the pastor is going to say pray. But I took it out of that initial sentence because we shouldn’t take prayer for granted, or as a simple matter of course. That’s how we forget it. We need to realize what is actually happening. We are coming before what Hebrews 4:16 calls, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">the throne of grace. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">We must constantly despair of our own wisdom and strength, and turn our gaze heavenward. We need to pray. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Those two simple actions will take you a long way toward remembering God, day by day. But can I be totally honest with you? I doubt if, on their own, they’ll sustain you in the long run. You’re going to need something more. And that something more is the church. You see, in the New Testament there is never such a thing imagined as an unchurched Christian, or even a Christian loosely associated with the body of Christ. To be in union with Jesus is to become part of his body, functioning together with the other members, feeling their joys and pains, happiness and sorrow, together. Worshipping together-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">remembering </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">who He is, and who we are, together. To come to Christ is to become </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">a part</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> of his bride-not to be his bride personally (which would sound a little creepy and weird), but to be one of those for whom he laid down his life, and whom he currently washes in water with the word. We become part of the church as individuals. You must </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">personally</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> trust Christ. No outside person, force, or institution can make that change inside of you. But in becoming a part of his people there is a real sense in which we are called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">out</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> of ourselves and into this assembly of the called out ones, the ekklesia, the church. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Being a Christian really isn’t just between you and God. It’s between you, and God, and the church, and it’s done before the world. It’s a personal decision with public implications. It might interest you to note that the word saint-or called out one-in the New Testament is virtually always a plural word, referring not to isolated individuals, but to the church. The only exception is Philippians 4:21 where Paul says to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">greet every saint in Christ Jesus</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">, something that would be expected to happen as the church gathered.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So I want to spend the rest of this sermon thinking about how the church as a body, and the church meeting especially, serves to jog our collective memory, to call us toward a vision of who </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">we</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> are, together, as the body and bride of Christ. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I want to begin where our services start, and where we spend a lot of our time: the reading of Scripture. Turn, if you would, to 1 Timothy 4:13. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Many evangelical churches who would teach a high view of the Bible and spend a lot of time devoted to teaching forget the very foundation stone of that teaching: actually reading the Bible publicly. I know it can probably feel tedious at times to read all the way through some of these longer passages, but I am utterly convinced of this fact: the Word of God is inspired in its every detail and has the power to pierce heart and soul, and transform hearts and lives. We come together to remind ourselves of the content, of what the book teaches, and that’s where preaching can really help. But we also come to collectively sit or stand and hear the Word wash over us, and remember together that it is the Word of God that is used by the Spirit to bring new life, to waken dead hearts, and to call believers over and over to renewed repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus. No mere human words can accomplish such a task. And so we come together and collectively submit ourselves to what God’s word has to say to us. 1 Peter 1:23 tells us, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">We gather together, week in and week out, to hear God’s word read to us as a body. To remember that his word is the source of our life. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Of course what flows naturally from a devotion to reading the word is a commitment to teach and proclaim the meaning of what has been read. This goes all the way back to the Old Testament where in Nehemiah 8:8 we read that the Levites under Ezra’s leadership, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people could understand the reading. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">They read clearly, a phrase which could be translated </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">paragraph by paragraph, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">and helped the people to understand what God was saying. The most solemn charge I can find anywhere in the Bible is Paul’s charge to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-2, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">God obviously thinks that his people will need corrected, encouraged, provoked, and pastored. And the chief means he gives for accomplishing that task is the preaching of the word. And so we gather week by week, not because there is some great preacher to hear, but because God speaks through the medium of his word being proclaimed in a particular time and in a particular place to a particular gathered people. God has a word for me and for you each Sunday, and we hear it by coming together to hear the word taught. Where else in your week will you hear of Christ paying for your sins? Where else will we learn of his coming kingdom, the center of our true citizenship? Where else can we look around and see, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I am not alone, other brothers and sisters are right here with me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">? I love podcasts, I know several of you enjoy Christian radio. And these are good gifts from God for which we can be grateful. But they are no replacement for gathering and hearing the word preached </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">together</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> with other believers, and remembering that we are the people called out and created by the word of God. To continue the earlier quotation from 1 Peter, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">(v24-25)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> We are people of the gospel, a gospel which was preached to us, and continues to be preached to us. We gather and remember who we are, those purchased by the precious blood of Christ, sent out with his message of reconciliation into the world. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The third practice we enter into week by week is that of corporate prayer. Acts 2:42 is paradigmatic for what mattered to the early church, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Prayer was one of the key things that brought together those early believers, and of course if you keep reading in Acts 2 you see that this wasn’t just reserved for an occasional get together. It was </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">day by day, attending the temple and breaking bread in their homes</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> (v46). We are coming under God’s word together, but it won’t do anything if his Spirit doesn’t blow. If God doesn’t take the words and open the eyes of our hearts that we might see, we could read all day long and I could preach for hours and we could sing for days and it wouldn’t matter. We must go to him and ask that he would work. This is part of why we pray the Lord’s prayer together every week. I know that is the sort of thing which can become just a rote ritual, but it does not need to be. Do you ever contemplate as we’re praying that we are lifting our voices together, using the very prayer that Jesus himself taught, and asking for the very things he wants us to ask for? In that moment I can know that my heart is aligned in prayer with Scott and with Linda and with Andie and with Jim. And I can know we are praying a prayer that God will answer, because Jesus himself taught it to us. Private prayer functions partly as a place to pour our hearts to God and partly to shape our hearts to be like God’s. In public prayer that formative aspect is even more pronounced. We pray, remembering that he is a God who delights to hear and to answer the prayers of his children. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">We also gather to hear testimony from God’s people about how he has worked, and is working, in their lives. We had a wonderful example of that with Dean this morning, and Scott last month. We share these testimonies publicly, but we also do so naturally in the conversations we have before and after church, and hopefully continuing through the week. We live in an age of increasing anxiety and loneliness, people feeling cut off from meaningful connection and feeling unsafe or unstable as a result. Here, in the body of Christ, we should be connecting with one another and feel free to share our burdens, and to hear over and over how God has been faithful to those with whom we worship. And if he is the kind of God who can carry others through hard times and difficulties, gathering with them and hearing those stories will help me remember that he can do the same for me. We learn that lesson by reading of God’s past faithfulness in Scripture, but we experience that lesson when we see his past and present faithfulness in the lives of our brothers and sisters in the church. We need one another to help us remember how good and how present God is in every circumstance.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Finally, I want to address what we’re about to do: singing. We often think of the singing part of a church service as “worship”. Now, in the Bible the idea of worship extends to the whole of life (cf Rom 12:1-2), although we can rightly call this corporate gathering worship in a distinct sense. But singing is only a piece of that worship. However, while that might sound like it’s making less of singing, did you know the New Testament points to a purpose besides vertical praise toward God when we sing? We are actually to sing to and for one another. In Colossians 3:16 we read, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">One way in which we teach </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">one another</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> is by singing together. These words sink into our hearts, our minds, even our subconscious. And we sing them here not simply as an expression (depending on the song) of praise, lament, or adoration: we sing them to point each other up. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Look to him!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> we tell one another, every time we join in song. We sing to remember who we are, a pilgrim people in a foreign land, singing together to remember the Lord who has purchased us with his own blood. We sing to remember the One who is bringing a kingdom, the One who has redeemed us from every trial, the One whom you can trust in your present distress. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Brothers and sisters, we must never forget the Lord. He is a Father who loves to take care of us, a judge who put his own Son forward as the payment for the sins of all who will trust in him, and a kind Shepherd who will lead us home. And he has given us one another to help us remember these things. So remember this week, that the church is something you need. But also remember this: the other people in this body need you. We serve </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">one another</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> by gathering to remember, and in doing so, we serve God. Let us pray.</span></p>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-49449312101941502402021-07-08T13:30:00.001-07:002021-07-08T13:30:20.770-07:00Beware of Your Assumptions<h2 style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/koonwrtb12jb19n/Church%2011-22-20.mp3?dl=0">Audio Link</a></h2><p style="text-align: center;">(Sermon starts about the 21 minutes mark)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Beware of Your Assumptions</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1 Samuel 10:17-11:15; Remsen Bible Fellowship; 11/22/2020</span></p><p><b id="docs-internal-guid-d54aeda3-7fff-4d8c-a1c8-1f1397cf2031" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Introduction:</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">One of my favorite poems, one which I’m sure I’ve quoted from the pulpit before, is William Cowper’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">God Moves in a Mysterious Way.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> The first line is the most famous, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform / He plants His footsteps in the sea / And rides upon the storm / Deep in unsearchable mines / Of never-failing skill / He treasures up His bright designs / And works His sovereign will. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The poem goes on, but the driving idea is that while life may be full of storms and trials, we can always trust that our sovereign God is at work. As Charles Spurgeon would later put it, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">when we cannot trace his hand, we must trust his heart. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Hard times come, but even then, we can trust that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">God is working all things together for the good of those who love him</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But are we only in spiritual danger when walking through the valley of the shadow of death? No, there other times when we may be tempted to doubt God-or perhaps more dangerous still, to simply forget him. Perhaps the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">most</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> dangerous times for us are when things seem to be going well. When we look at the circumstances, see good things happening, and assume: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">things are going my way, I must be doing something right! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But is that necessarily so? This text will force that question upon us.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">We’re going to divide our study into three portions this morning. We’ll begin by looking at the latter half of chapter ten, where God gives the people their king.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">God Gives the People their King, 10:17-27</span></h3><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">17 Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah. 18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A Conveneing Word</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">If you remember the last time we were in 1 Samuel, a young man named Saul had gone in search of his Father’s donkeys. He and his servant strike out when it comes to searching for the beasts of burden, but in the process they head into a city where the man of God, Samuel the prophet, is staying. This is not long after chapter 8, where the people have demanded that Samuel appoint for them a new king. And though Samuel is reluctant, God instructs him to obey their voice. What Saul doesn’t know, as he heads into the city to ask the prophet if he can help with the donkey problem, is that this man of God is waiting for him. Saul is going to be anointed by Samuel as prince over God’s people (v2). After this, he returns home-and plays his cards close to the vest. He experiences some interesting side-effects of being filled by the Spirit, such that the people in his home town are confused by the transformation that has come over him. But all he’ll tell his uncle is that Samuel relieved his mind of the donkey troubles. He says nothing of kingship.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But now the time for odd prophetic events, hidden anointings and whispers of the kingship, is over. Samuel gathers all the people together, and they’re going to use the sophisticated method of casting lots as the way to figure out who should be the head man. Who will be our king? Let’s roll the dice.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But before we get there, we should stop and scratch our heads first. Samuel has brought the people together for the express purpose of crowning a king over them. But does he gather them together and talk about what a joyous occasion this is? No, he opens in v18-19 by rebuking the people for their stubborn desire for a human figurehead. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.” </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">God has delivered this people time and time again. And yet instead of trusting his loving rule, we remember from chapter 8 verse 20 that they desire a king to be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">like all the nations. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">They reject their peculiar relationship with God, the protection that only he can provide, in order to have a strong man who will defend them. As we discussed when we were in chapter 8, this is a temptation that is not unique to the people of Israel. Even as 21st century Christians, there is a strong pull toward pragmatism in how we view earthly power. The big successful businesses have hard-driving, tough nosed, rule-defying leaders, that’s how you succeed in this world! Well, if we want our church to succeed then we’ll have to find a leader to fit that mold of extreme drivenness and “it” factor, right? The world thinks all power runs through politics and people tie all of their hopes for the nation into who holds political office at any given moment, and the worst possible thing is for the other side, the enemy, to win. So as Christians we should check our morality at the door and just look for a strong man to defend us, right? In relationships we are told to look out for number one, to follow your heart, and to always be attuned to what’s best for you. So we should worship our own desires and seek our own fulfillment at all costs, right?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The allure of the world, the desire to do things the way everyone else is doing them, is incredibly dangerous. No one is free from the temptation. But the way of the dragon, Satan, stands in stark contrast to the way of the Lamb of God. Samuel is reminding the people of this. Though God will give them their desire, what they are about to receive is the fruit of their sinful wishes and desires, and we ought to keep that in mind as the narrative moves forward. Samuel’s words might seem harsh, but as Dale Ralph Davis notes in his commentary, “Israel’s God may love us too much to be nice.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A Roll of the Dice</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So now we come to verse 20, where the people have convened. And here we find them casting lots to determine who is to be king. Casting lots was not an unusual way in Scripture of determining what the will of God was. First I should define it, as I tend to use rolling the dice as a stand in phrase, and that’s close but not exactly accurate. They wouldn’t have had perfectly uniform 6-sided and numbered dice like we do. But they would have a variety of identifiable objects in a small jar or container, and as they were dumped out there was some value assigned to each one used to determine what was to take place. So not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">technically</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> rolling dice-but essentially the same idea. In Leviticus 16 we see it used in the sacrificial system, in Numbers 26 it is used in the dividing up of territory, and we even find it making an appearance in the New Testament as the apostles cast lots between two men to decide who will replace Judas in Acts 1:26. This was all done with the understanding, as communicated in Proverbs 16:33, that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Even the rolling of the proverbial Yatzhee dice is under God’s controlling rule. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Are these instances given as a model for how we ought to make decisions in our day? I don’t think so. The point in this passage is simply to drive home a point: God is the one giving this king, and he </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">is</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> in control of every step of the process. Remember that this all falls </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">after</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> Samuel has anointed Saul. Yet he doesn’t gather everyone together and say, hey guys! God told me who the king is! No, instead he gathers the people, and they cast lots. Samuel, apparently, is completely confident that the will of the Lord will be made clear through this roll of the dice. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But when the Lot falls to Saul, he is nowhere to be found. He is hiding among the luggage (v21-22). What are we to make of this? Some would say this points to Saul’s humility, that we ought to commend him for it. I’m rather skeptical of that view. Saul was chosen by God, anointed by Samuel, and God confirmed all this to him through a series of miraculous fulfilled prophecies in the first half of this chapter. But here, instead of humbly </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">accepting</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> his role as king, Saul hides in the baggage. Which must have been a ridiculous site, here you have a guy who is a head and a half taller than everyone, and he’s tucked away, cowering in the corner. He’s got a blanket pulled over his head like when Owen is trying to hide on his bed. Really, Saul? This doesn’t speak to me of humility. This speaks of a pride that sees itself as knowing better than God what you’re fit to do. And we can fall into this as well. Tell that person about Jesus? I don’t know how. Maybe I’d look like a hypocrite, after all, I’m a sinner. God isn’t waiting for you to be qualified for the tasks he gives. He just wants you to obey. Saul should have been ready to obey.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But when they do find him and bring him forward, the people are excited by what they see. He looks the part! Head and shoulders taller than the rest, and remember from 9:2 that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">there was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> There is no question this is what any group of people naturally searches for. So we read in verse 24, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A Charge</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">This chapter closes with Samuel spelling out the rights and duties of the kingship. Note the contrast between this and chapter 8. In chapter 8, Samuel warns the people of the ways of kings, the way kings naturally end up behaving. But here, he spells out what the actual rights are, along with the responsibilities which are tied to it. I would imagine that this is probably, at least in part, the words Moses wrote down in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. After this charge, everyone is sent home. Which seems an odd thing, except we have to remember there is yet no capital. Saul has no palace to reign from, no throne to sit upon, no army to lead. So just like everyone else, he heads back home.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">There are some skeptics, though, who we won’t dwell on but it’s worth pointing them out. In v27 there are some </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">worthless fellows</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> who question the choice of Saul. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">How can this man save us? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">They ask. And they refuse to bring him any gift. Yet Saul chooses not to respond to them, which I do believe is to his credit. He ignores the insult. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But where does the story go from here? There’s a king, but where’s his kingdom? Does he actually do anything? That brings us to the next chapter.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">God Delivers His People by the King, 11:1-11</span></h3><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.” 3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days’ respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” 4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">5 Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. 6 And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 7 He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. 8 When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 9 And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation.’ ” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. 10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.” 11 And the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A Bad Situation</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">As we come to chapter 11, we find Nahash the Ammonite causing some trouble. This seems to come out of the blue, as most of our Bibles have a sharp break from 10:27 to 11:1. However, there were some ancient manuscripts which included additional material at the end of v27 that bridged the gap. Whether it is original to the text we can’t be sure, but it does help us perhaps get a feel for the gravity of the situation. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Now Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, had been oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites grievously, gouging out the right eye of each of them and allowing Israel no deliverer. No men of the Israelites who were across the Jordan remained whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But seven thousand men had escaped from the Ammonites and entered into Jabesh-gilead.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Jabesh-Gilead was itself on the east side of the river, where apparently Nahash is running roughshod over Israel. But when he comes to this place, the men try to surrender without the humiliating and devastating consequence of having their right eye removed. When Nahash refuses their offer they ask for a week. Surprisingly, he agrees. I suppose this could simply be an indicator that Nahash doesn’t think anyone from Israel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">can</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">will</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> attempt to stop him. So agrees to the week long wait, and starts to ready his eye gouging tools. These men of Israel are desperate. They need a deliverer. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Enter the Hero</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The messengers reach Saul’s hometown, but he isn’t there. He’s been out in their field, plowing with the oxen. When he hears the news, in v6, we see a phrase repeated from 10:10: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But this time, instead of joining the prophets, Saul’s anger is kindled at what is being done to God’s people. So he takes the oxen, chops them in pieces, and uses them as a visual lesson for anyone who won’t join him in the fight against Nahash. Join me, or I’ll do this to your oxen, too. Verse 7 tells us that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Saul gathers them together at Bezek, north of his home in Gibeah and across the Jordan river from Jabesh-Gilead. With 300,000 men of Israel and 30,000 of Judah, Saul sends the messengers back to Gibeah and promises them salvation by noon the next day. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And as we come to verse 11, we find that his promise comes true. Saul brings this massive army across the Jordan River and simply demolishes the Ammonite army. It says in v11, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">If that’s not a resounding victory, I don’t know what is. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So the people’s plan worked, right? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Give us a king...to go before us and fight our battles. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">That’s what they asked for in chapter 8, and here comes Saul doing just that. He rescued them. He fought their battles and saved them. So the people were right, and God was wrong, right?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">That works if you just conveniently forget all the times God had delivered them </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">without</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> a human king. God wasn’t dependent upon a king to save his people. And when the people focus on the king, they may still get deliverance, but they lose sight of the true source of salvation. Which brings us to the end of chapter 11.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The People Fully Embrace the King, 11:12-15</span></h3><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” 13 But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” 14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Here at the end of this first military victory for Saul, the people are both overjoyed and incensed. Overjoyed by the result of battle, incensed that there were men who questioned Saul. Where are they? they want to know. Let’s kill them! And again, Saul responds rightly to these men. Verse 13 reads, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Saul locates the source of victory correctly (the Lord), and responds rightly to the bloodlust. Why bring pain upon the people when God has just saved us? It reminds us of Paul’s words in Romans 12:18-21, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Saul in this chapter is the great hero. He is filled with the Holy Spirit to deliver a great military victory, and deliver he does. And the people are overjoyed, as we see in v14-15. Overjoyed to the point where they are renewing the kingdom. It’s as if God picked Saul the first time, and now the people are saying, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">let’s crown him again! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">They are ecstatic over the state of things in their nation. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But even the reference to Gilgal here is ominous. Our passage opened with Samuel warning the people that their desire for a king was a result of their rejection of God. And here, when things can’t seem to get better, we read of sacrifices at Gilgal, where we will see in chapter 13 one of Saul’s massive early failures. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I think the author of 1 Samuel wants us to look beneath the surface of events. He wants us to see that regardless of what is happening in terms of military victories and coronation ceremonies, God is most concerned about where the hearts of the people are looking for hope. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Where are you looking for hope this morning? Perhaps you are looking to a human ruler, someone who can unite us as a nation. Perhaps, as we come into the holiday season, you’re looking for hope and happiness in having friends and family around-which might be a little tougher this year. Perhaps you’re looking to a relationship you have or want to have and hoping that person will make you whole and take away the loneliness. The danger in these, or the many other places we look for happiness, isn’t just that they will fail us. Of course, in the end they all do. Politicians actually wield far less power than we think, families are full of disappointment, and the best of human relationships are full of let downs and eventually end. They will all fail.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But they also all have the potential to be incredibly satisfying. The politician might score some points we really like. He might fill up the federal judiciary in a way that we appreciate. There is an immense amount of joy to be had in a table full of laughing family members. And there is nothing like having a close friend or a spouse with whom to share your deepest self. And it’s in all of these legitimate joys that the things of earth can actually pose the most danger. Because, to borrow a phrase, we can take good things and treat them like ultimate things. It’s easy in life’s joys to misdirect our worship and focus on the temporal circumstances, and fail to acknowledge God as the one from whom all blessings flow. It’s easy to miss our need for a spiritual Savior because this earthly life is going just fine.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So as we come to thanksgiving this week, do rejoice in all that God has given. Be thankful for he has given. But don’t let your hope rest there. Handsome kings, military victories, and successful protests are all sinking sand. Christ, the one who came and died, who satisfied God’s wrath for us, who rose and promises life to all who trust in him: he is the only king who won’t fail us. He is the only man worth putting our hope in. All authority in heaven and on earth is his. Trust him.</span></p>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-41082725404058373452021-07-08T13:22:00.002-07:002021-07-08T13:22:30.774-07:00Purpose Driven Donkeys<h2 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/wf8rhhxsbbsc81k/1%20Samuel%209%3A1-10%3A16%3B%20Purpose%20Driven%20Donkeys.mp3?dl=0"> Audio Link</a></h2><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Purpose Driven Donkeys</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1 Samuel 9:1-10:16, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 11/08/2020</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-dc6bb99c-7fff-47a5-a994-bb34f0067e12" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Introduction:</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Is God at work in every circumstance? That is a question to which we all need an answer. If God is asking me to trust him with my eternity, to place my faith in what he says in his word and what he’s done through his Son, don’t I need to know I can trust him in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">every</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> circumstance? Some picture God as managing the flow of history in a broad sense, not really in control of the details, but making sure the general flow of things continues to head in the direction that he wants, and somehow he’ll pull it all together in the end. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But is that how history works? Growing up I heard the story of Henry Shoemaker, a man living in Indiana in the first half of the 19th century. In 1842, Mr Shoemaker was at work in a farmer’s field when he realized that he had promised to cast his ballot for Madison Marsh, who was running for state representative. He saddled his horse and hightailed it for the nearest polling place-12 miles away. When the ballots were counted, Mr Marsh was elected-by one vote. Henry Shoemaker’s one vote mattered. Now, if we believe that God is in control of “big things” like setting up and tearing down rulers, it seems obvious that he is also Providentially guiding even the “small things”-like one more ballot in favor of Madison Marsh.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">We need to know that God is in control of every little detail, and in the text this morning, we find God working details together as he answers the request of Israel, and provides them with a king.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Read the Text</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">That is a long text, but I think having all of that context will help us understand what is going on, as we drill down to see the main point: God is at work here. As we examine this passage I want to organize our thoughts under three headings: Provision, Providence, and Peculiarity. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Provision</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Remember that in chapter 8 the people had demanded a king. At the end of the chapter, we read Samuel telling the people, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Go every man to his city </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">(v22). Chapter 9 opens, then, in what seems to western eyes an unusual way. We get six generations of genealogy of this man of wealth or significance, Kish the Benjaminite. The presence of this genealogy is significant, however, because it marks a new phase in the book. Remember that chapter 1 opens with the genealogy of Elkanah as a way of introducing us to Samuel. In chapter 16 we will spend most of a chapter, not in genealogy, but in meeting the family of David. And here in chapter 9 we are introduced to the lineage of Kish as a way to bring attention to Saul. The author wants us to see that Saul will become the center of the story for the next several chapters, and he does so by situating him within a particular family context.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">As for Saul, we read that he is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So the first we know of Saul is that he has an influential dad, and he looks the part of a king. But this may be our first indication that he might </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">not</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> be the best kingly material. As humans, we certainly want rulers who look the part. But is an impressive appearance what God looks for in a king? 1 Samuel 16:7, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> We are being introduced to the man God will establish as Israel’s first king. But it seems that from the beginning the author is dropping hints that this might not be the sort of man who will be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">a man after God’s own heart. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Saul is an unlikely figure. We see this in his own reaction, in 9:20b-21. Samuel says, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">This could be understood as saying that everything good in this land will come to you, as ruler over the nation. This would make a lot of sense given Samuel’s warning to the people in chapter 8, that the king will be taking all the best of your land and property. Another way that could be translated would be to say that all the desires of Israel are for you-that you are the sort of king they want. Either way this strikes Saul as very strange. So he protests, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">If you remember back in Judges, the people of Benjamin were nearly wiped out following the horrifying incident with the Levite and his concubine. So Benjamin has been reduced down to almost nothing. They also occupy a tiny territory, and it seems that Saul’s family is the smallest in number of the clans, which I think is how we should understand, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">is not my clan the humblest in all the clans of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken thus to me? </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Kingship doesn’t seem to be on Saul’s list of career goals or aspirations. But while this is not part of his plan, it is God’s plan. Even Saul’s name fits these circumstances. I was helped by R.F. Youngblood’s commentary a lot this week, and he comments, ‘The Hebrew root for the name “Saul,” which means “Asked (of God),” occurs in 8:10, where the people were “asking” for a king’</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> So the people ask for a king, and God says, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I have just the guy in mind. Even his name means asked of God. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Another thing I want to draw your attention to under this heading of God’s provision is the idea of anointing. The Hebrew verb </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">mashach </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">here means simply to smear or poil oil onto someone’s head. Here it is used as a setting apart for the kingship, and Samuel makes clear that this is not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">him</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> setting Saul apart, but rather the Lord himself is doing so. Anointing also carries with it the idea of God’s blessing for the service that one is set apart to, and this is what we see in 10:1. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Then Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hands of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be a sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">That Saul is the anointed one, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">YHWH’s mashiach</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">, becomes important in this book. Not only in the verses that follow, as God essentially seals this to be true by causing the Holy Spirit to rush upon Saul, but even after Saul has abandoned the Lord, David will continue to honor the action of God in this moment by refusing to lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed one, his messiah with a lowercase m. God has given Saul to the people. He alone has the right and ability to set up and tear down rulers. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So the people have asked for a king, and God has anointed one. But didn’t he pick a weird way to do it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Providence</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I titled this sermon for the donkeys, not because they are actually main players, but I really liked the play on words. And their presence does frame this narrative for us. After the introduction in 9:1-2, we are thrust into a narrative where the donkeys of Kish are lost. And this sets the son of Kish, Saul, on a journey to find them. He takes one of the servant men with him, and they go looking, for three days 9:20 tells us. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And they wander all over the place. Mainly heading north, up into the fertile hill country of Ephriam, then circling back south into the land of their tribe, Benjamin. This story is remarkable for how</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> un</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">remarkable it is. Donkeys get out, the farm boy and his servant go looking to find them. Super mundane, right?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But during this fruitless search for the donkeys, Saul and his servant “just happen”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">to come past a city where </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">a man of God </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">(</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">v6</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">) is staying. How handy. Saul is tired after three days of searching, though, and it seems is a little more interested in getting back home than searching out someone to help with the donkey search. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">What can we bring to the man? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">he asks in v7. What he seems to be implying is that we don’t have any gift (which seems to imply that part of how prophets made their living was by people paying for their services), let’s just get back home. But again, we have another “just happen”-ing...the servant pulls a quarter shekel of silver out. Hey, look what I have!</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">All of this seems so normal and unworthy of note. Everyone who has kept livestock knows how it feels when they get out. Most of us have the experience of putting a coat on and finding a $5 or $20 bill that we didn’t expect. And we all can resonate with being tired and just wanting to go home, rather than finishing the job we were sent to do. This is the normal stuff of life. And in it all, God is working. In his 1 Samuel commentary, Dale Ralph Davis has this helpful summary of what is meant by </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Providence</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">, ‘“Providence” is God’s way of providing for the needs of his people. That’s not all of it, but some of it. When I use “providence” here I mean that wonderful, strange, mysterious, unguessable way Yahweh has of ruling his world and sustaining his people, and his doing it, frequently, over, under, around, through, or in spite of the most common stuff of our lives or even the bias of our wills.’</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">In this ordinary story of some lost donkeys, we come to find out that God is at work. They do go to look for the man of God, who we come to find out in v14 is Samuel himself. And here the narrator interjects to make sure we see that this </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">isn’t</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> all just happenstance. In 9:15-16 we read, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Now the day before Samuel came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel: “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">. So Saul thinks he’s chasing livestock, but God is actually herding Saul up to this city, to meet with Samuel.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Proverbs 16:9, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Proverbs 20:24, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way? </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">If I were to answer the question asked in that second passage from Proverbs, the only way to understand our way is to see that hand of Providence at work, even in the most mundane parts of our lives. This is part of why verses like Philippians 2:14 are so important. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Do all things without grumbling or disputing. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Why should we not grumble? Because if God is Sovereignly governing our lives, and we are grumbling about our circumstances, then we are in essence questioning the goodness or the wisdom of God. That is not to say there isn’t a right place for lament. The Psalmist asks, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">how long oh Lord? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But there is a world of difference between an honest lament over pain and hardship on the one hand, and a dissatisfied and ungrateful griping on the other. One assumes that a good God has a good plan, and seeks to understand. The other assumes there is no reason for the donkeys to get out and can’t get over how inconvenient it is. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The donkeys continue to help our story along, as Samuel informs Saul and the servant that they have been found (v20), and that he need no longer worry about them. And mention of them brackets the end of our text, as in 10:14-16 Saul tells his uncle how he knew the donkeys had been found-Samuel had informed him. Though in that case he really had far more to say and decided to keep it to these donkeys. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">God governs every little detail of this world, from the transfer of kingship to donkeys breaking down fences, and he does so in such a way that it all fits. It’s congruent. Every time I’m asked if there’s anything in my life I’d change I’m almost forced to answer no, because I can start tracing how making even tiny changes in my past would drastically impact things 5, 10, 15 years down the line. God has brought each of us to where we are through his good Providence. Our job is not to question if his hand was at work-it was. Our job is to trust that having an all powerful God in control and guiding the circumstances of life is better than you or I being in control.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Peculiarity</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Before we close, I want to briefly address a couple of peculiar or weird aspects of 10:2ff. Samuel gives Saul a list of signs that this anointing truly is of the Lord, and they are so specific there could be no doubting. First, someone is going to meet them near Rachel’s tomb and assure them that the donkey’s have been found. Then, they will meet three men carrying three goats, three loaves of bread, and a skin of wine, and they will give Saul and the servant two of those loaves of bread. And then, as they come into his hometown of Gibeah, they will meet a group of prophets, at which point the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon him and cause him to prophesy. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">It’s interesting that 9b gives a simple summary: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">and all these signs came to pass that day. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But as for the last matter, of the prophesying, it gives us a more detailed account in v10-13. As to exactly what is happening with the prophets coming down, what was the nature of their prophesying, we don’t really know. Obviously, these are considered genuine prophets by Samuel so they aren’t just saying random ecstatic things, they have some sort of message from God. It all seems weird, and it only gets weirder when the Spirit rushes upon Saul and he joins them. This seems to take the whole community off guard, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">What has come over the Son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> It weirds them out to the point where afterward when something weird happened, instead of saying “well, that was strange” they say, “is Saul also among the prophets?”</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The point in all of it, though, obscure though the details may be, is that God really is doing something in Saul. The anointing was genuinely from God. He changes him at some fundamental level (v9). And the Spirit rushes upon him, causing him here to prophesy. At points later in the book we will see the Spirit rush upon him again. And perhaps one of the saddest moments in the book is when the Spirit decisively departs from him. In all of this kingship, Saul will be dependent upon God. When he acknowledges this and acts in that strength, things go well. When he seeks to garner and guard his own strength and power, things take a disastrous turn for the worse. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Conclusion: </span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The primary take away from this introduction to Saul is a reality check: God is still on his throne. Though the people have desired a king, and God has granted their desire, God is still the One controlling the details of every event, from the search for the donkeys, to the choice of an anointed one, to the gift of the Spirit. Every step of the way is ultimately in his control. Do you see life through this lens? Do you see elections and seasons and sickness as all under the control of the Almighty? To drill down deeper-do you see him at work in the details of your own life? Do you trust his providential care even in times of sickness or in the slow deterioration of the body with age? Do you know the hand of God to be at work in your weakness? Do you trust that he can turn every part of your life, good or bad, toward his good purposes? </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">This is where the rubber meets the road. These chapters present us with all powerful God who is always at work to bring about his good purposes. Trust him in every circumstance. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913425093803501958.post-86171192360327120142020-11-01T11:18:00.004-08:002020-11-01T11:18:55.225-08:001 Samuel 8, The King Thing<p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/2knsu3s4ahp6vmm/1%20Samuel%208%20the%20King%20Thing___whole%20service___.mp3?dl=0">Audio Link</a> (Sermon starts around 19:05)</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>The King Thing</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>1 Samuel 8, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 10/25/2020</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Introduction:</b></p><p>Open by reading the text.</p><p><br /></p><p>1 Samuel 8 has a particular place in what you might call my Scriptural imagination. When I first started taking classes through the Rocky Mountain Bible Mission, my first teacher was Jim Hunter. And this chapter was formative for Jim-so much so that he wrote a paper from which I stole this title: the King Thing. He had us read that paper in a class on hermeneutics, which at first seemed off topic. Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation, we were learning how to study the Bible, whereas this paper was focused on our embrace, as individuals and churches, of a form of thinking that out-sourced responsibility and leadership to figureheads instead of understanding ourselves as personally responsible to God.</p><p><br /></p><p>But it wasn’t off topic. The longer I’ve thought about the King Thing, the more I’ve realized that how we read and respond to God’s word has very real world consequences. If we don’t respond personally, worshipfully, and obediently to the word of God we are doing ourselves more harm than good. Be doers of the word, James 1:22 urges us, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. There is a clear warning in this chapter of 1 Samuel. We need to sit up and take notice of it. Understand, and obey.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Real and Present Problem, v1-3</b></p><p>As we enter chapter 8 we are immediately confronted with an issue: Samuel, the man who has been leading Israel for some 40 years, has become old. In view of this reality, he makes what seems to be a logical move. He appoints his sons, Joel and Abijah, to be judges. He sends them to Beersheba while he remains at Ramah, so seemingly they are splitting the duties. He has not stepped down, but he understands the workload is too much for him to carry alone.</p><p><br /></p><p> However, the issue continues to escalate. Had Joel and Abijah been good judges, wise rulers, men who followed in their Father’s footsteps, then the people could have rejoiced in a smooth transition. But v3 tells us, Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. It’s like we’re reliving Eli’s sons all over again. Remember them from chapter 2? Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord (1 Samuel 2:12). They were characterized by a turning aside after gain, an abuse of the people and the sacrifices, and their sexual perversion. And now we hear echoes of Hophni and Phineas in Samuel’s own family. </p><p><br /></p><p>It’s worth noting here that in the previous case of the worthless sons, Eli is cast in a negative light. Not so with Samuel. We have no indication that he was complicit with his sons or that he was aware of their actions and refusing to deal with it. Which provides us with a sobering reality-check: it doesn’t matter who your parents are, you must choose to walk with God. It doesn’t happen automatically. Parents can do all the right things, and their kids can still go off the rails. Not to say that parenting is irrelevant or unimportant, far from it! But God is never going to ask you on the judgement day who your earthly parents were. You must do business with him.</p><p><br /></p><p>But the elders of Israel are still left with this problem: what happens when Samuel dies? Are these jokers, Joel and Abijah, really our best bet?</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Obvious Human Solution, v4-9</b></p><p>The elders of Israel, the wise heads, the gray beards all gather together. The text doesn’t make this explicit, but it seems pretty clear that they come together and discuss how they’ll approach Samuel before they come up to Ramah. Then they come up to him and announce the problem: your time is short and your sons don’t cut it. They also have what we might consider the obvious human solution: give us a king!</p><p><br /></p><p>Where would the people have gotten the idea for a king if they had never experienced a monarchy? They looked around. The Philistines have kings. The Ammonites have kings. The Egyptians have a Pharaoh, he’s like a king. Let’s quit trying to function as a bunch of loosely connected family clans and tribes, and instead coalesce around a single figurehead. It makes an enormous amount of sense in political and military terms. </p><p><br /></p><p>Furthermore, the idea of Israel having a king apparently isn’t new, either. Back in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, God gives instructions for how the king is to behave as he serves God’s people. So in and of itself, their request to have a monarch isn’t exactly rotten. </p><p><br /></p><p>But we read in v6 that their request displeases Samuel. That might seem obvious at first. After all, he is the last of the judges and so their request for a king must feel like some sort of personal rebuttal or rejection. Can you imagine leading a group of people for four decades and then having the rest of the leadership contriving to have you replaced...but then asking you to do the replacing? Not quite like a retirement party with a nice plaque and some cookies. I had a friend who was working for a small corporation, and he helped them establish a new hardware store, get it up and running, and then when it was established they decided they wanted someone to run it who wouldn’t make so much money. So they told him to hire and train his replacement! That must be how Samuel feels.</p><p><br /></p><p>But God assures Samuel that this rejection is not personal. Or rather, it is personal, but he’s not the person that matters. It isn’t not Samuel whom Israel has rejected, but God himself. If you remember back a couple of weeks to when we looked at 1 Samuel 7, this is what I think the great theme of that chapter was: it is a good thing to have God as your king. The people flourished when they put away the idols and prayed, rather than searching for their own answers. They didn’t have a human king with all of the real protection that provides, but they didn’t need one, because God himself was their king. And when they lived as if he were, things went well. But now they're panicking. God’s man is on the way out. His sons stink. We have to come up with a solution. </p><p><br /></p><p>This is the heart of what my teacher Jim called the King Thing. Instead of seeing our problems and turning to God for answers and help, we instead see our problems and seek for human solutions. We rely upon our own strength, wisdom, and cleverness, and resources, rather than relying upon God. We go looking for a human king to rescue us. This is a pattern the people of Israel had constantly lived in (v8-9). Seek after our own way, look for something visible, end up chasing other gods. YHWH is invisible, he tells us to do things we don’t like, we think we’re smarter. </p><p><br /></p><p>We are prone to the same temptations, even when we think we are serving God. As Dale Ralph Davis says in his commentary, “Our proposals and solutions then can be completely reasonable, clearly logical, obviously plausible—and utterly godless.”</p><p><br /></p><p>God’s response to this is interesting. Instead of refusing their request, God tells Samuel (v9) to warn the people. This sort of warning implicitly carries with it the opportunity for repentance and turning; like when a kid sees you holding a shiny red pepper. It looks good, appetizing even. Maybe the child loves tomatoes and that pepper is a similar color. Now buddy, you don’t actually want this. You’re going to sweat, your mouth is going to feel like it’s on fire, and your tummy will hurt. Gimmee! I want it! Okay, here you go. Samuel is about to tell the people what sort of indigestion a king will bring.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Samuel’s Solemn Warning, v10-18</b></p><p>What Samuel delivers to the people of Israel isn’t quite what you’d expect. He doesn’t deliver a list of injustices or potentially wicked abuses of power a king might bring. Instead, he delivers a list of what we might call mundane, run of the mill, plain Jane king stuff. He’s going to draft men into military and civil service (v11-12). He’ll need farmers working, not for their own benefit, but to feed his armies, as well as craftsmen who can make weapons of war (v12). Think your daughters are safe? Nope, he’s going to need someone to keep the palace fed and perfumed (v13). As for all of your possessions, as well as the fruit of your labor, well that must be taxed as well (v14-17). Samuel piles up a list of consequence upon consequence-but remember, these aren’t exceptional. You begin to see these things under Saul, you see them under David, and especially under Solomon. Kings have wars to fight, building projects to accomplish, they have to leave their mark of history. And that money and the manpower have to come from somewhere. </p><p><br /></p><p>There is no doubt that benefits come from central leadership. It made keeping a standing army feasible, which made for more felt security. It enabled massive building projects like the palaces of David and Solomon, as well as the temple, making for more felt power. None of that happens without a central leadership structure. But the people, in clamoring for some sense of peace and security, don’t understand the deal they are making. They don’t understand the freedom and family stability they could lose to a monarch. </p><p><br /></p><p>Note the drumbeat of v11-17: he will take, he will take, he will take. I count at least six times where that phrase is used in these verses. The king will plunder the people’s possessions for princely profit. He will take. The people won’t enjoy this. You will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, Samuel warns (v18). And then he adds this devastating conclusion to his warning, but the LORD will not answer you in that day. The people will remember, after they have a king, how good it was when God was their only king. But there will be no going back.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Israel’s Stubborn Rebellion, v19-20</b></p><p>As we come to the response of the people, it is perhaps worth noting a shift. In v4, it is the elders who come to Samuel with the request. But Samuel does not go back to the elders in private. No, in v10 he gathered the people as a whole together and says, is this really what you want? And the people as a whole respond in v19-by refusing to respond. Look at how their response is worded: No! But there shall be a king over us, that we may also be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. This is not simply a case of some stubborn leaders. This is the cry of the people. Give us a king, and do it now! See how they open that response with the word “no”? It’s as if they have their fingers in their ears to Samuel’s, and thus God’s, frankly very reserved warning. He doesn’t even tell them the worst of it, but they don’t even want to hear what he does say. La-la-la-la-la-la-la, I can’t hear you! </p><p><br /></p><p>The people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, says v19. Do you remember back to 3:19-4:1a? Let’s refresh our memories on how Samuel’s words should be taken. </p><p><br /></p><p>And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.</p><p><br /></p><p>God let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground, because God was revealing himself to Samuel who then spoke on behalf of God to the people. Which is to say, when Samuel is bringing a warning from God, the people are either going to listen to or reject God. By refusing to hear Samuel’s voice, they are plugging their ears to the Almighty. Not a good idea.</p><p> </p><p>What is driving their desire for a king? As we said, it’s not the desire for a king per se which God is displeased with, it is their motives. And so we should ponder those motives for a few minutes. It slices neatly into three pieces. First, they want to be like everyone else. Second, they are looking for a judge to bring justice. Third, they want someone to do their fighting.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first reason they offer (and the only one brought by the elders in v5), is the desire to be like all the other nations. And it may be the most damning of all. We understand it, of course. Who doesn’t want to be like everyone else? Who doesn’t want to have the same house, the same clothes, the same lifestyle as those around them? What nation wants to be seen as the awkward, kingless, step-child? But what had God called his people to? Leviticus 19:2 says, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. The very essence of what it means to be God’s people is to be different, distinct, set apart from the surrounding world. That’s what the word holy means in that context, of course it carries with it the idea of purity that we usually think of, but what it’s driving at is the difference between the people of the Lord and the rest of the world. They are emphatically not to be like all the other nations. But the people have this sophisticated objection: we wanna be like the nations!</p><p><br /></p><p>I mean, look what their kings can do! They judge the people! Not like your worthless sons, Samuel. They pervert justice and take bribes! Now, this is legitimate, right? They don’t want injustice. They’re sick of the bribes. But do they have eyes in their heads? What makes them think a king will somehow be more just than these judges? A position with limited power is abusing us, let’s appoint someone with more power to fix it! But as Samuel pointed out to them, even in the best of times, when justice is carried out perfectly, having a king might cost you more than the bribes did. Taxes are no laughing matter. </p><p><br /></p><p>But what about that third piece, he’ll fight our battles, right? Well, sure. And as stated earlier, having a standing army will make you feel safe. But if you fast forward to the end of this book, what happens to the first king of Israel? He and his sons die-in battle. The thing is, when two nations with kings line up to fight, one of those kings is going to lose. He just might lose his head. </p><p><br /></p><p>Brothers and sisters, I think we should linger for a while over this temptation. The temptation to embrace Israel’s King Thing and think that if we just have the right person in power everything is going to be okay. The place where our minds immediately go of course is to politics, especially two days before an election which (just like every election I remember) is the most important in the history of ever. If we get the wrong person in, the world will come crashing down around our feet! But if we get the right man in, if we pick the right leader, we’ll be secure and safe. This is precisely the rhetoric you hear whether you turn on MSNBC or Fox News, they just have different definitions of who the right and wrong guy are. As believers, we need to have a different mindset. This mindset of us versus them is a toxic sort of mindset that teaches us to view those with whom we have political differences as somehow the ultimate enemy. But we have brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the isle. And much of the political coalition of which you are a part, whether donkey or elephant or green, is populated by people who are not friends of the cross. </p><p><br /></p><p>That’s not to say that Christians are somehow aloof from or above the fray. We participate in this world, we have responsibilities to love our neighbor, part of which means advocating and voting for the best leaders and laws possible. These things are by no means unimportant. But brothers and sisters, we must always remember that this is not our home. We are not looking for an earthly king with botox or an earthly king with a spray tan. We are looking for a heavenly king, who demonstrated his power on a cross. He will come again, bringing perfect righteousness and making war on all his enemies. In the meantime we, the people of God, are called to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44-48). Why does Jesus want us to do that? Matthew 5:45, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. So please, if you haven’t voted yet, go to the courthouse tomorrow or the bank or the library on Tuesday, and do so. But vote knowing that our hope is not in men. Our hope is in God, and he is just as in control regardless of the outcome. Do not let your perspective be shaped by cable news, social media, or the radio. Let your mind be shaped in this by the all encompassing sovereignty of God.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another area, perhaps less obvious but maybe more dangerous, where the King Thing invades our thinking is right here, in the church. In politics we are co-pted into thinking there is a particular agenda that must be God must be for and thus will save us. In the church we can adopt mindsets toward ministry that even more closely mirror those of the Israelites. Jim described this in the form of surrogates. We want surrogate thinkers. So instead of reading the Bible for yourself and wrestling with what it means, you just count on someone else having all the answers. I can just come to church on Sunday and get what I need, I don’t need to think about that stuff for myself. But of course I don’t have all the answers. And if 30 or 40 minutes on a Sunday is all the word of God you get in your week it will be awful tough to think like a Christian for the other 167 ½ hours. </p><p><br /></p><p>We can also look to surrogate workers. We pay someone to do the ministry for us, so it’s their responsibility, right? With lives that are so busy, it can be easy to offload responsibility to those whose “job it is”. Let me be clear, that hasn’t been my experience here, I think we have a group of people who are excited to do. To serve the Lord with heart, soul, mind, and strength. But it’s a temptation to be wary of, especially if there comes a day when I or someone else can be “vocationally” dedicated to this church. It’s easy to look at the person on the payroll and think they need to do everything.</p><p><br /></p><p>And as a pastor, it’s easy to adopt a surrogate model of ministry. Where I would think of myself as the surrogate, the one getting paid to do ministry. But you know what’s interesting? That’s not God’s model for the church. God doesn’t appoint a single head over individual churches and tell them to run the show. God holds congregations responsible for church discipline (1 Corinthians 5) and for the type of teaching they tolerate (Galatians 1). He gives leaders to the church not to be the ministry, but to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11ff). My main role here is to help you be better equipped for the service God has called you to. Which is also why we need to keep working toward setting structures in place for meaningful membership and praying that God would raise up a plurality of men to be elders and deacons here. It shouldn’t be “Will in charge”, but the elders giving oversight to the flock, with the understanding that all believers are members of a holy priesthood, ministering the grace of God to those around us by displaying love and sharing the gospel. </p><p><br /></p><p>This might all feel like we’ve wandered off topic. But I don’t think we have. Israel’s fundamental issue is that they sought their safety in conformity to the nations, rather than submission to and trust in God. We are tempted to do that in the way we view our country, in even in the way we view the church. We must constantly fight to have our minds shaped by God’s word. For those at Bible study on Tuesday, this is what we addressed. NCC Q#17, What is idolatry? A: Idolatry is trusting in created things rather than the Creator for our hope and happiness, significance and security. </p><p>Where should we be looking? Romans 12:1-2, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>God’s Devastating Response, v21-22</b></p><p>As the chapter closes, Samuel takes these words to the Lord. He obviously had been hoping for a better response. But God is not surprised. His response? Give them what they want. This is the great danger in looking in other places for our answers-God might just let us keep looking. Instead of stopping the people, he simply lets them have their way. The old cliche holds true: be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Speaking of the people in the wilderness, Psalm 106:15 says, he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. We need to come to God not with a list of demands, not with a worldly list of to-dos we want him to accomplish. We come to him as humble servants, loving children, certainly bringing our requests (even boldly bringing our requests, Hebrews 4), but we must do so in an attitude willing to have even our requests corrected. We must be attuned to God’s warnings and careful to heed them. He doesn’t give them to be a kill-joy. He gives them because he is the only King we need. </p>Will Dolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12949643179256873802noreply@blogger.com