Quiet time is important even in a busy life with a family.

We should make time to continue quiet time even in the busy seasons of life.

When we read the Bible, we should pray to see God’s work in His Word.

God’s pattern is to have all odds against Him so victory can only be credited to Him.   ~~~   We ended last week by saying that we are to focus on the promises of God and our calling as Christians and not the circumstances. If we survey the Bible, we will over and over where odds and circumstances were stacked against God’s people, and that is just how God likes it. Joseph and brothers—you meant it for evil but God meant it for good. Moses backed up against red sea—facing the red sea looked like nothing but death for Moses and the people of God. It was the end of the road, but the LORD intervened, made a way, and the red sea delivered God’s people but crushed God’s enemy. Esther and Haman—Haman had devised a plan to have the Jews extinguished and especially Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, hung from gallows fifty cubits high. But when the news came to King Artarxerxes that a plan had been hatched to annihilate the Jews, of which his wife was one, the king’s wrath turned against the man who had hatched the plan, Haman. And Haman was hung in the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Job’s ailments, at Satan’s request in order to separate Job from God, bring Job closer to God, not cursing God. Three Hebrew boys and fiery furnace, didn’t die, but burned the servants of Nebudchanezer Daniel and Lions den—Daniel, because of his faithfulness to God, was set up and conspired against by jealous men, and was eventually was thrown into a den of lions. But no harm came to him. God had shut the lions mouth. And when King Darius saw that Daniel’s God had delivered Daniel, he brought Daniel out of the tomb, and tossed in Daniel’s accusers and their families. And before they hit the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. Paul in prison—you can put bars around his body, but not around his mouth. It was from prison that joy in the gospel spread all around, and eventually delivered him in front of kings. John on Patmos—you can seclude him to try and keep him from influencing others, but God will use that time of seclusion to deliver one of his most fascinating and comforting pieces of the Bible. This is the way of God. This is God’s pattern…to have all the odds against him, all the circumstances against him and his people, so that when overwhelming victory comes, it can be said, “This is God!”  

The Bible fits together to create one important narrative.

When God has called us, we must focus on that, and not on circumstances that may waylay us.   ~~~   We see that not only were the odds not in Jonathan’s favor, neither were the surrounding circumstances. 1 Samuel 14: 4, “Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.” The name Bozez can mean “a surpassing white glistening” and may be referring to how slippery the landscape was. And the name Seneh means “thorny.” In other words, there was no easy, advantageous way, strategic way to get an army in position to attack the garrison of the Philistines. The circumstances were not favorable. With all of this against him, Jonathan has incredible, radical faith, and says, “Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.” And so Jonathan devises a plan, that required a divine sign. And when that divine sign was given, he and his servant struck fast and struck decisively. So overwhelming was the two man attack on the garrison that the word “panic” is used three times in one sentence to describe the response of the Philistines and the earth. Remember our little story about William Carey a few days ago? Well, On March 11, 1812, William Carey was teaching in Calcutta. While he was gone, a fire started in their printing press room where they worked to print bibles in the native language… Despite many hours of exhaustive efforts to fight the fire, the building burned to the ground. Just five pieces of equipment were saved. Carey’s entire library, his completed Sanskrit dictionary, part of his Bengal dictionary, two grammar books, and ten translations of the Bible were lost. Gone also were the type sets for printing fourteen different languages. Vast quantities of English paper, priceless dictionaries, deeds, and account books were all gone. When Carey returned to Serampore and surveyed the scene, he wept and said, “In one short evening the labours of years are consumed. How unsearchable are the ways of God. I had lately brought some things to the utmost perfection of which they seemed capable, and contemplated the missionary establishment with perhaps too much self-congratulation. The Lord has laid me low, that I may look more simply to him.” What could we say? We could say that the odds were against Carey and his team, and that circumstances were absolutely stacked against them. He could have looked at the rubble, he could have started calculating cost and manpower and effort and time as to how much and how long to get back to where he was, and he would have been in despair if that is all he had focused upon. Although he was heartbroken, he did not take much time to mourn. With great resiliency Carey wrote, “The loss is heavy, but as traveling a road the second time is usually done with greater ease than the first time, so I trust the work will lose nothing of real value. We are not discouraged; indeed the work is already begun again in every language. We are cast down but not in despair.” Carey resolved to trust God that from the embers would come a better press and more scholarly translations. Within a few months Carey had set up shop in a warehouse. Little did Carey know that the fire would bring him and his work to the attention of people all over Europe and America as well as India. In just fifty days in England and Scotland alone, about ten thousand pounds were raised for rebuilding Carey’s publishing enterprise. So much money was coming in that Andrew Fuller, Carey’s friend and a leader of his mission in England, told his committee when he returned from a fund-raising trip, “We must stop the contributions.” Many volunteers came to India to help as well. By 1832 (20 years later) Carey’s rebuilt and expanded printing operation had published complete Bibles or portions of the Bible in forty-four languages and dialects! (From The One Year Book of CHRISTIAN HISTORY By E. Michael and Sharon Rustin [http://www.shepherd.to/Excerpts/books/history/carey.htm] If God has called you to it, focus on the calling, not the circumstances. And guess what, God has called all of His people to world missions.

Christ promises to protect, empower, and motivate those who are obedient in the faith.   ~~~   Yesterday we learned that Jonathan trusted the word of God, and not the numbers. Today we see that he also understood the reality behind covenant. Notice what he says in verse 6—“Let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised.” Earlier, he refers to the garrison as the garrison of the Philistines, so why does he here refer to them as “uncircumcised”? Well, to be uncircumcised meant that you did not have the sign of the covenant of God. You were not in relationship with God, which meant that you did not have the protection of God. But Jonathan was under the covenant of God, was walking with God, and could count on the protection of God. So Jonathan is pointing out to his servant that the Philistines have no promise from God and no protection of God, but they did! Seems like a good idea for followers of Christ to remember that we too have promises extended to us in Christ that protect us, empower us, and motivate us to the obedience of faith. Which promise are you depending on today?

We do not need odds to be in our favor to succeed when we are working for the Lord.   ~~~   Here is a line that needs to be highlighted in your bible, memorized in your mind, and carried in your heart. 1 Samuel 14:6—Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few. NOTHING CAN HINDER, OBSTRUCT, HAMSTRING, CRIPPLE, STOP, SLOW DOWN the LORD from saving by many or by few. Biblical faith leans on God’s word, not odds. Our story begins with Samuel leaving Saul. It’s important to note from our study of 1 Samuel 13 that there has been no repentance, no remorse, no confession on Saul’s part concerning his disobedience. He has only blamed other people for his disobedience and fear. As such, Samuel leaves Saul with no word from God. From there we learn that Saul’s men number around 600. Those are the men who have not hidden themselves in caves or tombs or wells. The Philistines, the enemy army, has set up camp in Michmash, just a few miles from Saul, and they are constantly raiding Saul and the surrounding areas. It is very reminiscent of Judges 6, where the Midianites were constantly raiding the people of Israel, and Gideon is hiding in a winepress. So there is the picture. 600 men in the army, many more men hiding in caves, against an army that is just jabbing them to pieces. Those are not very good odds. But the reality of the scene is even worse than that. Not only is the army of Saul outnumbered, they are also out resourced. At some point, the Philistines had not allowed the Israelites to get wind of the technology or the resources on how to forge weapons—swords and spears. The situation was so bad that the Israelites didn’t even have the resources to sharpen their own farm tools. So the army of Saul had no weapons. Not even make shift weapons. Nothing to fight with. So the Philistines were controlling the Israelites access to metal, and controlling somewhat their economy, and also controlling the roadways by freely going out to the pass of Michmash. Those are not very good odds. And this is the great tension of the text. Notice 13:22—“So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.” What in the world are the Israelites going to do? What in the world will King Saul do? That is the question. What will he do when he has no weaponry, no wealth, and no easy way to attack the Philistines? And it is against these odds that Jonathan, the son of scared Saul, says to his assistant, “Hey! Im tired of sitting around here. Let’s go spy out that garrison of Philistine soldiers. But let’s not tell anyone we are going.” No soldiers, no swords, no spears—let’s go start a fight! But you know what he does have? He does have the word of the LORD. Back in 1 Samuel 9:16 it says about Saul, “He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.” Jonathan has the promise of God that the Philistines will not prevail over the Israelites…that the Israelites will be delivered. Biblical faith says, “I don’t need the odds when I have the word of God. I have all the leverage I need when I lean on LORD commands.” Listen to me church, worldly odds will rarely, if ever be in our favor. But we have the word of the LORD.  

If we expect God to move, then we should walk in anticipation of that move.   ~~~   In 1792, in a sermon preached in a Baptist meeting, William Carey urged his fellow pastors and brothers in Christ to enter the mission field, to support the cause of missions with their money and members. From that sermon came the famous line, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” That sermon is sometimes referred to as the “Deathless Sermon” because it sparked a missions movement that has not ceased to exist. Carey is known as the father of the modern day missions movement, not only lending his voice to promote this movement, but his very life. Just within a year of delivering that sermon, Carey was aboard a dutch ship sailing in secret to Eastern India, along with his wife, his son, and a doctor. What was he doing? He was expecting great things from God, and attempting great things from God. The work in India was anything but easy. Carey started learning the Bengali language, started translating the Bible into Bengali, and preaching to small groups. Seven years later he had his first convert. Carey’s words and life would inspire other missionaries like Adoniram Judson, Hudson Tayler, and David Livingstone. All of this because He believed, he expected God to keep His word of doing great things in the world. What do you expect from God, and then what do you attempt in light of that expectation? With just a quick glance at the daily structures of our lives and what we attempt in the world, it would appear that some us don’t expect much from God. If that is so, we find our selves at odds with many faithful people of the Bible, including the main character of our passage for study over the next few days, Jonathan, King Saul’s son. So join us tomorrow as he begin to look at his attempts.

To walk with the Lord, we must realize that He wants to have a relationship with us.

The call for faithfulness in our lives is only possible because of Jesus.   ~~~   Jesus made it clear that not one stroke of the pen that was written in law would go unfulfilled. He made it clear that He did not come into the world to push aside the law, to shirk the law, or to forsake God’s word, but to fulfill it. Jesus said that he only speaks the words His father gives to him and only does the works His father tells him to do. Jesus never turns from the word of God to the left or to the right. This is why you see over and over in Matthew, particularly at the beginning, “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets.” This take the idea of fulfillment even further. Even in events that Jesus had no control over since he was a baby, Matthew is showing us that all of His life fulfilled the word of God. And then at the end of Jesus’s life, in that great high priestly prayer, Jesus prays, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” So what are we to say to this? Hooray for Jesus? Good for him? No. Why this is so important for us to see is because our faithfulness to God’s word stems from Christ’s faithfulness. We can trust Christ wherever He may lead us because He is always faithful to God’s word. Whatever He says, we can be certain that it is the will and word of God. And the call for our own faithfulness in this life is only possible of the faithfulness of Christ in me, through me.   even when friends scatter even when enemies gather   Because Jesus was faithful to God’s word, and fearless of His enemy, He went all the way to the cross, the ultimate battle scene. And on that cross, He was slaughtered for my sin, for your sin. All the stored up wrath of God against me, against every believer, was unleashed upon Jesus, and He died. He had finished the work the Father gave him to do. And because Jesus was completely and perfectly faithful to that work, He was raised from the dead, proving himself more powerful than sin, satan, and death. AND has been given all authority as the forever King. His blessing will never be cut off; His throne will never be usurped. His rule will never come to an end. Why would you seek out any other King? Why would we ask for and follow a Saul, when Jesus is being offered to you. No doubt, you need a king. And no doubt, many kings will try to reign on the throne of your heart. But there is only One who has been faithful, who is fearless, and who will reign forever. Seek Him, trust Him, and you will never have to run to the comfort of fox holes again. But because of Him you can be faithful, and fearless, and reign with Him forever.

In Jesus we have a King who is worthy to be followed day by day.   ~~~   God’s word is to be feared and obeyed. He is to be served, and not our own interests. And this is why God says, “The LORD has sought out a man after His own heart.” Now here is where we must be very careful with 1 Samuel, and all of the Bible. This text is not here to show us that we should be the opposite of Saul and to stand tall when others scatter and the enemy gathers. We must fight against that urge to insert ourselves into the position of the hero. Our place in this story are the people hiding out in the caves and cisterns, wondering what the King is going to do to fix this situation. And as we peer out of our hidey holes, we hear Samuel scold Saul and tell him that he will not have a lasting reign. So this must not be the king we need. This may be the king we asked for, but it is not the king we need. And we know this because Samuel says so right here, but also, if you remember your OT history, you will remember that Jacob prophesied about his son Judah, that the scepter would never leave his throne, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. But Saul is of the tribe of Benjamin, not Judah. So we shouldn’t be surprised that Saul is not going to have an everlasting dynasty. So who is the king after God’s own heart? We will find out in the days to come that the short term answer to that question is David. David would be a king after God’s own heart. David loved God and obeyed his word, when the enemy was great, when others backed away from him, it was never a ritualistic thing with David. But we also see in David just a man. A man who needed to repent of sin, and offer sacrifices for his own sin. So we need a greater king than David. And that is what we have in Jesus. Jesus is a king after God’s own heart because Jesus is God’s own Son. And in Him we have a King who is worthy of us to follow him day by day.

Doing things our own way risks the minimization and devaluing of God’s Word.   ~~~   1 Samuel 13:14 “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of teh Lord your God, with which he commanded you. Now your kingdom shall not continue.” Upon reading the text that way, all of our sympathy moves in the direction of Saul, and our eyebrows are raised at the reaction of God. We can see his punishment, the removal of the kingdom, as too harsh, too reactionary, filled with vitriol. It is moments like this that we can start to have this image form in our minds of an OT God that is not loving, not caring, and overly-vengeful. But is that really the case? Remember the warning that was given. “If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, if both you and the king who reigns over you will allow the LORD your God, it will be well. 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.” The word of God is very clear on this, is it not? His voice and His command and His word is to be feared, adhered to, over and above any other voice, including the voice of the fearful who run away, and including the rising shout of the enemy as they draw closer. Do you sometimes find yourself in that very situation? Friends moving away from you and the enemy moving closer? This is what can happen when you are a leader? When you go to war spiritually for those under your care. In order to make this group happy, and to keep that group away, you start making decisions that you think are best. Now at this point, it is important to ask, just what was the command of the LORD that Saul has not listened to. Is it that he, a king, offered a sacrifice and that job is reserved for priests only? I do not think that is the issue here. We are not in the temple at this point, where the priests would serve. What is at issue is that Samuel has instructed him to wait seven days for Samuel to come to him and offer the sacrifices in the right way. And it has been shown to us repeatedly that Samuel speaks the word of the LORD. So Saul has taken it upon himself to break this command from Samuel, which is really the command of God. The reason this is so grievous is because the direction and attitude of the King towards God’s word would greatly influence the direction and attitude of the people toward’s God’s word. This is not your next door neighbor of whom you don’t know their last name. This is THE KING. If the word of God is not good enough for the king, then why should the people care anything about it? If it is displayed that the king’s own personal authority is higher than the word of God, then why would the people listen to the word of God? That is what is at risk here—the minimization of God before the people, the devaluing of God, the striking at the holiness and weight of the glory of God Himself. God was not about to let that happen, when He knew His word is the best thing, the highest authority, for His people. But we have a king who had the authority of God’s word as his ultimate authority in King Jesus. And it is to him we look day by day. And when you look to him, you will not see any minimalization of His father’s word.

As you seek to follow the Lord day by day, remember that it is done through trusting obedience to his revealed word.   ~~~   We need a king who trusts the word: OVER RITUALISTIC CEREMONY 1 Samuel 13:12 tells us that Saul offered the burnt offering, and he says one of the reasons as to why he did this, even though Samuel told him to wait, was, “‘I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” So get this clear. Saul knew what the command was. He knew he was to wait for seven days on Samuel, but when Samuel didn’t come according to Saul’s convenience, then Saul thought it necessary to offer the sacrifice himself in order to secure the LORD’s favor. Catch that—Saul believed that going about the LORD’s work, but not in the LORD’s way, not according to the LORD’s word, would secure the LORD’s favor. Saul thought that the way the sacrifice was done didn’t matter at all, so long as it was done. What is that? That is a belief in ritualistic ceremony. That is Saul attempting to secure God’s favor and do God’s work, but according to Saul’s ways and authority. Listen Christian, listen up church, we risk the same consequences today when we try to adapt our worship, and our ways to satisfy ourselves, even though they go against God’s clear word, and still expect God’s blessing because, “God knows my heart.” Yes, he knows your heart. Your heart is obviously far from wanting to serve and obey His word. Your heart is telling you that your authority is greater than His word. Your heart is telling you that any old way will do, when God’s word clearly says something different. Do you think God will bless a marriage just because the ceremony took place in a church, when in reality you have no intention of being a biblical wife or husband? Do you think God will bless our church just because we have a worship service, even if we soften up the word of God? All of this, and much more, Samuel would say to us, “You have done foolishly!” So as you seek to follow the Lord day by day, remember that it is done through trusting obedience to his revealed word.

Speaking verses out loud is a great tool for memorizing Scripture verses.

Jesus, in the moment that the enemy surrounds him, time and time again, looks the enemy in the face and shows that he is unflinchingly committed to God’s word.   ~~~   Yesterday we saw that in 1 Samuel 13, Saul disobeyed God’s word when others started running away from, heading for the hills. Another excuse Saul gave for abandoning God’s word was that the enemy was starting to gather around him. We need a king who trusts the word of God: WHEN THE ENEMY GATHERS The text says that the Philistines had 30,000 chariots, 6,000 men on horses, and ground troops that were innumerable, and that they were encamped at Michmash. That is where Saul was previously, and perhaps that is why the Philistines went there initially. But Saul is not there, but he can see the growing tide of Philistines. After all, they were not that far away from Gilgal. I get it. No one likes to stand alone. No one enjoys watching people run away because they do not think you can overcome the situation or because they do not think you know what you are doing. It is usually at this point, when people scatter away from and the enemy starts to gather around us, that we get antsy and feel like we have to do something, anything other than wait on the LORD. So Saul realizes that his forces are getting depleted. His forces are too weak, too scared, for him to be able to do anything about the enemy. And what we see is that Saul’s believes that his reign depends upon the strength of others, the strength and might of the army around him and the weakness of the enemy in front of him. This is what makes David such a better king than Saul, which we will see in 2 Samuel. But I can even do you one better. Jesus is a better king than David. Jesus does not abandon God’s word, even when the enemy gathers around him. One of my favorite words of Jesus comes when the enemy is gathering around him at his betrayal, and Jesus is says, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” It may not sound like much, but this is a declaration of power and authority from Jesus. He is telling the enemy that they have fixed amount of time before the power of God reigns down on the power of darkness. Jesus, in the moment that the enemy surrounds him, time and time again, looks the enemy in the face and shows that he is unflinchingly committed to God’s word. What a man, what a Savior, what a King we get to follow day by day.

We should be glad that Jesus didn’t abandon God’s word when others abandoned him.   ~~~   Saul had gathered his army for war, but he had been instructed by Samuel for seven days. Seven days came and went. And this is where Saul’s impatience gets the best of him. He decides to go ahead and offer sacrifices, even though Samuel has not arrived yet. And just as soon as he finishes up the burnt offering, Samuel strolled into town, saw what was goin on and said, “What have you done?” Samuel does not exchange pleasantries with Saul. He doesn’t ask how the family is doing or if he is enjoying his time as king. Two words in the Hebrew language. He wastes no time and no words in getting to the heart of the matter—“What have you done?” So what is the big deal here? Saul wants the Lord’s blessing over the battle that is about to take place. Time was running out. The enemy was moving in. The people needed to have a rally point or else there was going to be no army left. What else was there to do? What would you have done? Im pretty sure I know what I would have done, and it probably wouldn’t have looked a lot different than Saul’s action. We notice that in 1 Samuel 13 11, one of the motivating factors in Saul’s abandoning the word of God for his own authority is when the people start hiding themselves in caves and holes and rocks and tombs and in cisterns. The approaching Philistine army is so overwhelming that men are hiding in above ground caves and underground water tunnels, and others just flat out ran away from the place altogether. Samuel will tell Saul that God desires a man after his own heart. And that man will ultimately be Jesus, who does not abandon God’s word, even when other abandon him. There were many occasions in Jesus’ ministry when people just stopped following him as they once did. The most poignant of those times was on the night of his betrayal, when the disciples ran away as Jesus was arrested. And you and I should be glad that Jesus didn’t abandon God’s word when others abandoned him. It was his devotion to His Father that brought him to the cross.

We are to serve God faithfully with all our hearts in every area of our lives.   ~~~   Serve God This God we hear about, this God we fear, His word is meant to be lived out. You will notice that it says in 1 Samuel 12:24 to serve him faithfully with all of your heart. When we hear this, we often think that it means with all of our energy, or with everything we have. And it does to an extent. But it also means that every area of our life is to be his. There is not to be a sacred and secular divide. Every part of your life is religious. Every part of your life is worship. The reason this is so is because the earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof. Every nail you drive into a piece of wood, the nail and the wood, and the hammer belong to God. When you mow your grass, you are actually mowing God’s grass. When you mix asphalt, it belongs to God. When you pave roads, cut hair, handle money, paint buildings, raise children, teach subjects, they all belong to God! And we are to serve Him faithfully with all of our heart in every area, as he instructs us.

We do not have to be afraid of the LORD’s harsh discipline if we are trustingly serving him.   ~~~   Fear God We ended last week by seeing that in 2 Samuel 12, Samuel gave his farewell address and encouraged the Israelites to hear from God as he continued to pray for them and instruct them. That would be their proper response, but not the only response. Not only were they to hear from God, they were to fear God. This is an interesting one. In verse 20, Samuel says, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.” And then in verse 24, Samuel says, “Fear the LORD.” So in one verse he says, “Fear not.” And then turns around and says, “Fear the LORD.” What are we to make of this? I think if we read it with the context in mind, we will see that we do not have to be afraid of the LORD’s harsh discipline if we are trustingly serving him. If there is a greater reverence, if we see Him as He truly is and as He presents himself to us, we will not have to fear his judgment because our lives will be aligned in His ways. So we must fear Him, revere Him, stand in awe of Him. The type of fear that Isaiah had, when after seeing him in His glory, and becoming undone, but then having the cleansing of that piece of coal brought to His lips, Isaiah was ready to go anywhere and say anything the LORD commanded. So we are to hear from God, and when He is made plan to us through instruction, we are to fear Him in reverence and awe.

There are a variety of methods for learning how to memorize Scripture.

We were made for community, we were saved and are to be placed in community.   ~~~   What were the Israelites to say and do in response to this miracle? What are we to say or do in response to the way God has acted on our behalf? Samuel gives three main responses (19-25). He lists them in the negative and in the positive, but they fall into these three main categories. Hear God’s word We hear Samuel tell us what are his responsibilities, and that is to pray for the people of God and teach the people of God God’s word. So one main response that should be taking place in our lives is to be hearers of God’s word. We must be underneath the instruction of God’s word. This is a primary means of our relationship with God. God’s word is food for our souls, air for our lungs. We are to hear God’s word preached and proclaimed from God’s appointed men, from God’s ordained church. This is no light thing we do here week after week. I do not hammer this home for my own sake, but because we see it explicitly and implicitly all over God’s word. We were made for community, we were saved and are to be placed in community. We need each other pointing each other to Christ. We are being built up into a holy temple, a dwelling place for God.

The greatest miracle God does is the miracle of changing sinful hearts.   ~~~   God shows He is faithful to his covenant with Israel by the men he gives to lead, and in the mercy he displays. But we also need a miracle. We need a miracle to show us our true condition and lead us to repentance. How is it that hard-hearted people like you and me ever realize our need? Ever realize the grace of God? It is a miracle of God that it happens. You see, what Samuel is doing is accusing the people of God, the Israelites, of sin. They have rejected God and exalted Saul. They believe they are on their way to being a great and mighty nation. But Samuel stops the party, and says, “You have acted sinfully in asking for a king like the other nations. And if you can’t trust that I am speaking honestly to you, then maybe you will take heed from this miracle.” And so Samuel tells the Israelites that God will bring forth thunder and rain right then. This would be like us experiencing a snow storm in the middle of our July. IT was the word of God, the action of God that brought the people to fear and repentance. Are you not thankful that the word of God worked a miracle on your stony heart? The Holy Spirit drew you in, softened your heart towards God, hardened your heart towards sin, and made you new. Miracle of miracles.

The basis of God’s faithfulness to His people is the covenant He made with His people.   ~~~   Not only do we see God’s covenant faithfulness in the men God uses to guide us, but in the ever-present mercy God gives us. We read about this mercy in 1 Samuel 12:6-16, and it is staggering. Samuel begins by commanding the people to stand still, to stop whatever they were doing. And what were they doing, they were rejoicing (11:15). How interesting is it that Samuel interrupts the party and worship service in order to teach the people about God’s character. Why would he do this? Because the people were heading in a wrong direction with their worship and thinking. They were headed down the path of thinking that all was good in the hood, when it was not. So stand still, “that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed with you and for your fathers.” Two phrases become immensely important here. First, Samuel does all of this “before the LORD.” In other words, I am going speak honestly with you, and if I am not honest, then God is here watching and listening and He will judge me. All that I say will be said in front of the LORD. So Samuel is quite serious at this point. Next, he says he wants to plead with the people concerning the “righteous deeds of the LORD.” That word “righteous” means “the fulfillment of just expectations between two parties. That which corresponds to being just.” What are those righteous deeds? God brought the Israelites out of the oppression of the Egyptians to dwell in the promised land. And when the people turned their backs on God, He disciplined them because he loved them. And when they cried out to Him in repentance, He rescued them…again, and again, and again. It was a cycle of rebellion, repentance, and rescue. Generation after generation. Time after time. Why? How can God say, “Do not fear,” to people who have rejected him, and not just once, but over and over again? What is the basis of God’s faithfulness to His people? Could it be that God sees something in us that we do not see in ourselves…that one day, we will finally get it right, that we will turn this thing around?…Since God knows how it all ends, does He see that we will finally come around to being completely faithful to Him on our own? No! No! No! The basis of God’s faithfulness to His people is the covenant He made with His people.When it is all said and done, and the people of God surround the throne of God, no one will be talking about how wise God was in choosing good people, smart people, wise people, strong people, from every tribe and nation and tongue. But rather, we will all be utterly astounded at the grace of God in rescuing and changing such sinners like you and me into being trophies and spoils of His Grace!

God uses spirit-filled leaders to guide believers in our walk with Him.   ~~~   Have you ever had to say goodbye to someone, or a group of people. Maybe it was at a retirement party, or maybe you were moving from one town to another. Perhaps it was when your child moved out of the house, to a college dorm, or to their new married life. You may not remember the exact words you said, but without a doubt, the words and the feelings/sentiments behind them were much different than just the normal words you might say to someone when you knew you would see them again on the next day, in the same place. Those farewell addresses carry weight, maybe warnings, and sometimes your deepest wishes for the people with whom you are addressing. If you have been there, then you have been in the shoes that we are seeing Samuel fill in our text today. 1 Samuel 12 is widely known as Samuel’s farewell address. From the understanding of the context, and the reading of the text, we can see that Samuel is perhaps not quite as jovial as the rest of Israel, but he does hold out hope for the Israelites. And he tells them that God’s covenant faithfulness is to fuel their faithfulness to Him. And he lays out several ways the people can see God’s covenant faithfulness. The first evidence we see of God’s covenant faithfulness is the men who guide Israel. Chapter 12 begins with Samuel detailing his resume. He tells the people that he has listened to them and to God, and Samuel has delivered unto them a king. He compels the people to bring forth any witness who could testify to any corruption, any misdealing, underhanded ways of Samuel. Samuel has been a faithful leader and judge for Israel. He has been faithful to do the hard work of ministry by telling Eli, back in chapter 3, the harsh truth about his sons. Samuel has done the laborious work of telling all of Israel the word of the Lord. Samuel has done the mediatorial work of interceding on behalf of a rebellious people. Samuel has given himself to God’s word, to God’s mission, and to God’s people. Did he do it perfectly? Of course not. He is human. But He has done the work. Samuel goes on to list other men who were appointed to the Israelites, like Moses and Aaron, and others who were sent to Israel, like Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, all men that you will find listed in Hebrews 11 as faithful men who conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. They were men who constantly pointed the people back to God, and to a future hope of the Messiah to come. And the Messiah eventually showed up. And He, too, pointed people to God, but he did something drastically different than the other prophets, and priests, and kings from ages past. He pointed people to God by pointing people to Himself! “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.” We see that Mosaic covenant comes to an end in Christ who fulfills all the law, and becomes the perfect, atoning, complete, sufficient sacrifice for all those who believe and trust in his death and resurrection! This is why he says “This is my blood of the new covenant!” A new covenant that promises the enduring presence of God’s spirit within His people. And we see that even through this new covenant, God guides us with Spirit-filled men who point us back to the cross and resurrection, and the new life that is found in Christ. Those men are to warn us of false teachers, war with us against sin and strongholds and evil, and always walk us to Christ by means of God’s word. We call these men pastors, elders…all the more reason you need to belong to a church!

We should memorize Bible verses that are impactful in our lives.

In the face of constant attacks against the church, we must be uncompromising and rely on the Holy Spirit.   ~~~   We all have a part to play in warring for each other’s deliverance. Saul sent out the message for all the fighters to join him for the sake of this people in Jabesh-Gilead. And you know from our study in 1 Corinthians that every believer that belongs to this church has been given a gift, or maybe better fitting terminology for our purposes today is a weapon to fight the enemy and encourage and build up the church, which, when used consistently makes the people say, “We are glad!” Attacks upon the church are constant, whether they come from within or without. Compromise is not an option. Compromise to the attacks only makes us weaker. We must pursue and depend upon the Spirit of God together. Our posture is never one of comfort or ease in this world. Our posture, although one of being joyful and abiding, is at the same time a posture of warfare. Do we think of ourselves as people who are going to battle together? With one another instead of against one another? Are we going to battle depending upon the Spirit to deliver those who are under attack? Of those who feel helpless, of those who are not sure if there is anyone in their corner who will fight for them, of the hurting, the threatened. Listen, when one among our flock is attacked, we are all attacked. We are family in that sense.  

No human leader was meant to be our ultimate Savior.   ~~~   The power for the church is not if she has a dynamic pastor, but if the power of the Spirit has a hold on the pastor and church. 1 Samuel 11:5 “Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, ‘What is worn with the people, that they are weeping?’ So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.”   The same Spirit that rushed on the anointed one, Saul, in all of his weakness to give deliverance to Israel, is the same Spirit that resided on Jesus Christ, the perfect and all powerful King. You see, Saul, with all of his faults and shortcomings, helps us to see that no mere man can deliver people from their own calamities and distresses. We need God. We need a Savior. Jesus is that Savior. The Spirit of God led the perfect and willing Son of God to attack the greatest threat to mankind, and that is man’s own sin and the punishment that comes along with it. Jesus was despised and rejected like Saul was. But Saul would ultimately rebel against God. As would all the other kings that would come along, in some way. They were not made to be ultimate kings or saviors. But they made us long for one. And Jesus is that one. He is the one who truly delivers us from our sin, and it is in His Spirit that our strength as churches is found.  

We are constantly surrounded by enemies who want to prey on God’s people.   ~~~   As we finish up reading about the growing animosity from the worthless fellows from within, we are introduced to a new character named Nahash the Ammonite. Nahash brings threats of shame and slavery upon Jabesh-Gilead.. Nahash tells them that he will strike a treaty with them, but part of the treaty will be to gouge out the right eye of each man. This will accomplish two goals. First, it will just bring pure and utter humiliation upon that tribe. It will be a mark that they will have to bear for a generation or two, and will always be known in that way. The second goal that would be accomplished by the gouging out of the right eyes is that it would not afford them to fight in battle. The customary way to hold a shield was to protect one eye or side of your face, while using your other eye to peek around the shield. This could not be done, so it would reduce the men of the tribe to servanthood or slavery. So you have the threat of shame and slavery. And Nahash is so confident in his power and in the men of Jabesh’s, and perhaps surrounding Israel’s weakness, that he allows the men of Jabesh to try and hunt up an army for the next seven days. Can I tell you that we are surrounded by Nahash’s at every turn—people who want to prey on the perceived weakness of the people of God. They want to make a mockery of us as the church of God. They want us to live in fear and guilt and shame. They want to kill, steal and destroy because they act just like their father. The enemy, Satan, wants to silence the church, to render us ineffective. But this is where the story gets good. Now I want you to notice something…there is a tension that has been building since the middle of chapter 10. Samuel said in verse 19—“You have rejected your God who saves you from all your calamities and distresses.” What was the question the worthless men asked about Saul—“How can this man save us?” And what is the request of men of Jabesh to Nahash in verse 3?—“Give us seven days 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.” In 11:9 “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance (salvation).” The question hanging in the air is, “Who will save Israel? Can Saul really save Israel? Can Saul bring peace to the threats from within and vanquish the threats on the outside?” That question is one you should ask? Who can save you? Deliver you day by day? Who can rescue you from the threats of the enemies that surround the church? To find out what happens, join us for another episode of Day by Day tomorrow.  

Ridicule of church leaders is like a virus that spreads if we do not control it.   ~~~   Do you find it easier to ridicule church leaders versus praying for them? When we ridicule others, the real goal is to make ourselves look smarter, braver, wiser, better. Ridicule offers no help, no concern, no compassion, no burden bearing. Ridicule does nothing to move the church forward. It only seeks to derail others while propping yourself up. And ridicule is like a virus that spreads. One person opens up the way to nit-pick and find fault, so others think they have the same right to do the same thing. In 1 Samuel 10 we read where Saul has just been designated as king of Israel, to which a few men quip, “How can this man save us?” They are actually described as worthless fellows. What makes what these worthless men were doing and saying so bad is not so much that they were doing it against Saul the man, but against the one God had just designated as King. We will see in a few chapters, that when David is anointed as king, while Saul is still king, that David never raises his hand against Saul, even when he had the easy chance to do so. This is about recognizing what God is doing, and not trying to undo it in underhanded ways. Threats from within are constant. The threat and reality of division is constant. There were those who looked at Jesus and said, “How can he save us?” And there will be those within the church who look at the church and say, “How in the world can she be effective in the culture?” They will look at the pastors and say, “How can they lead us?” That temptation will be there, for sure, because I am a man of many faults. If you think I am bad, can I tell you that you do not know the half of it. I am far worse than you can imagine. And the real answer to the question is “I cannot lead you.” But there is a solution to that very problem. It is the Spirit of God leading me and leading you.

An important part of our walk with the Lord is Scripture memorization.