[0:00] Let us join together in the worship of God. We shall sing to his praise from Psalm 34. Psalm 34 from the beginning.
[0:13] God will I bless all times. His praise my mouth shall still express. My soul shall boast in God. The meek shall hear with joyfulness.
[0:25] Extol the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord. He heard and did me from all fears deliver.
[0:38] They looked to him and lightened were, not shamed were their faces. This poor man cried. God heard and saved him from all his distresses.
[0:51] The angel of the Lord encamps and round encompasseth all those about that do him fear and them delivereth. O taste and see that God is good, who trusts in him is blessed.
[1:07] Fear God who sins, none that in fear shall be with want oppressed. The lion's young may hungry be, and they may lack their food.
[1:19] But they that truly seek the Lord shall not lack any good. Let us sing these verses of Psalm 34 from the beginning.
[1:30] Six stanzas. God will I bless all times. His praise my mouth shall still express. God will I bless all times.
[2:05] God will I bless all times.
[2:35] God will I bless all times. One more times. Good pobre fans. God will I bless all times. He lost all times. He lost all times. God will I bless all times.
[2:56] God will I bless their lives. God일 Opelde town. God will I bless all times. children bless the accountable dying bless them from all is a coming into the angel of CHOIR SINGS
[3:58] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS The lion's name may have been unpaid, unpaid in our debtor.
[4:51] But in the glory's name the Lord shall not look any new.
[5:13] Let us come before God in prayer. Let us pray. Amen. Ever-blessed God, as we call upon your name, we give thanks that we are able to do so, and that you have encouraged us to come. Enable us to draw from your word that the praise that is upon our lips, the petitions that come from our heart, are all in accordance with your holy writ.
[5:47] We may not have an awareness or an appreciation of how other creatures magnify God.
[6:31] Those who are part of the sciences would reject such a thought. And it may be that we stray in our thinking concerning that, because there is a difference between the order of creation and the place that you have given mankind within that order.
[6:57] For you gave man that preeminence within the order of things created. You gave him preeminence because of his likeness to you.
[7:15] But as creatures we know that they belong within the order of creation, having their own place, and in a sense belonging within that created order is the means by which God, the creator, is glorified by the creature in occupying that place.
[7:44] And although the world in which we live has had that order disturbed, for we know that through your word you remind us of the place that man had with dominion over the creatures, and a place within the creation that allowed him to live within it, and observe all things, and be subservient to none, except the God who created.
[8:21] But with the fall came a displacement, so that he was at odds with creation, and all that were within that created order were reduced to a militant rebellious position.
[8:42] We acknowledge this as to be the truth that you have set before us, and you remind us of it in order that we may be reconciled to your revealed will, and come as those who are displaced to seek remedy for our condition, for we cannot do it of our own selves.
[9:07] Your word tells us that we are distant from you by nature, that we are your enemies, that we are alienated, that we cannot be reconciled to you, except it be by the means ordained by yourself.
[9:26] And you have appointed these means, and you have directed us through the word of God, through your word, as to how that can be brought about.
[9:42] The reconciliation that needs to take place, you show us, has taken place through Christ Jesus. And your servant, and your servant, the apostle, insists upon it, that we are at peace, and peace is made with you, by your people, through the blood of Jesus Christ.
[10:09] Through the blood of sacrifice, nothing less, and nothing more is required. So we give thanks that today we can come and honour you in heaven by acknowledging these truths.
[10:24] We pray that you would bless us as our worshipping people, while we may be separated at the present, and it may be that soon the places of worship will be open once again, albeit in a reduced capacity.
[10:44] We are still worshipping the same God, the living and true God, and we can do so while apart and separate. We can be united in spirit at a throne of grace.
[10:58] We give thanks for that. While it is not how things ought to be, we acknowledge it as part of your providence for us, and we pray for wisdom that we might avail ourselves of every provision that you have made for us, that would make us ever more appreciative of the liberties we enjoy ordinarily.
[11:22] We pray for those who are affected by the current pandemic in whatever way these effects have been brought about, especially those who have succumbed to the virus, many in hospital, many who have suffered over this period of time and who are still recovering because of the damage that the virus has done.
[11:48] We remember them and those who care for them. We pray for our nurses and our doctors. We pray for carers of every description within the health service and within the community.
[12:03] We remember in your presence all who have taken part in ensuring that all things are done to the best of their ability to ensure that men and women, young and old, are cared for, remembering our schools, remembering our communities and the way they're regulated.
[12:27] We pray for teachers. We pray for those who work in council departments, within the offices and within the places where we depend upon their services.
[12:44] We remember, Lord, those who belong to peacekeeping sphere of service within society, doctors, nurses and ancillary services.
[13:00] And beyond that, we pray for the police service, fire services, the ambulance services and all such. They are part of the instrumentality of your hand.
[13:15] And we pray that you would open our eyes to marvel at the provision that you have made for us. We pray that you would remember those who are grieving and sorrowing over loved ones.
[13:29] There are plenty empty places within our communities of those that have been taken away and left behind are the grieving and the sorrowful.
[13:42] May their eyes be opened to the reality of what death is. And that it is not just something that impacts upon our lives in this world, but on our eternal destiny.
[13:56] So here are petitions for those who are sorrowful. Remember others who are suffering from other conditions at this time.
[14:07] We know that there are some who are waiting for treatments that have been deferred because of the demands that are made on the health service. We pray that you would uphold them, body and soul, and that their mental well-being would not be overly affected.
[14:26] We bring before you all the cares and concerns of our congregations, families and households, those who live by themselves and those who live with others.
[14:38] May any and all who are here avail themselves of that provision that it has made for us.
[15:08] So continue to be with us, remembering all the nations of the earth and all who govern them and who are responsible for ensuring that all things are done with decorum and with sensitivity.
[15:26] Continue with us, watching over us, cleansing from sin. In Christ the Redeemer's name we would ask it. Amen. We shall read the word of God now as we have it in the Old Testament scriptures.
[15:40] And we're going to read from the first book of Samuel. The first book of Samuel. And we're reading from the second chapter.
[15:53] The first part of the chapter deals with the song of Hannah.
[16:03] The song of Hannah's praise after her prayers being answered. God providing for her son.
[16:22] We're going to keep the reading at verse 12. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord.
[16:33] And the priest's custom with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand.
[16:47] And he strook it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. All that the flesh hook brought up, the priest's took for himself.
[17:00] So they did in Shiloh unto all the Yisraelites that came hither. Also before they burnt the fact, the priest's servant came and said to the man that sacrificed, give flesh to roast for the priest, for he will not have sudden flesh of thee but raw.
[17:19] And if any man said unto him, Let him not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth, then he would answer him, Nay, but thou shalt give it me now, and if not I will take it by force.
[17:36] Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child girded with a linen ephod.
[17:53] Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
[18:04] And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife and said, The Lord give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord.
[18:15] And they went into their own home. And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters.
[18:26] And the child Samuel grew before the Lord. Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did, and to all Israel, and how they lay with the woman and assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
[18:43] And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear.
[18:58] You make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him. But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?
[19:11] Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them. And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men.
[19:25] And there came a man of God into Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, that I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house.
[19:39] And did I choose him, out of all the tribes of Israel, to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me?
[19:53] And did I give unto the house of thy father, all the offerings made by fire, of the children of Israel? Wherefore, Kiki, at my sacrifice, and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat, with the chiefest of all offerings, of Israel my people?
[20:20] Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed, that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever. But now the Lord saith, Be it far from me, for them that honor me, I will honor, and they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed.
[20:41] Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house, and thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give us here, and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.
[21:06] And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart, and all the increase of thine house shall die, in the flower of the rage.
[21:20] And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas, in one day, they shall die, both of them.
[21:32] And I will raise up, raise me up, a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart, and in my mind.
[21:44] And I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a mussel of bread, and shall say, put me, I pray thee, into one of the priest's offices, that I might eat a piece of bread.
[22:12] And so on. May the Lord add his blessing to this reading of his word, and to his name be the praise. I'd like us to turn to this passage that we have read, 1 Samuel chapter 2.
[22:31] I can read again with you at verse 30, but we'll refer to most of what we've read. Wherefore, the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me before me forever.
[22:51] And now the Lord saith, Be it far from me, for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
[23:05] Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. We may have heard an abbreviated portion of the text quoted often, the first part of it, seldom the second portion.
[23:50] And secondly, the context of these words is often ignored or overlooked. I want to begin by noting the contrasts we are presented with in the chapter.
[24:04] Secondly, recognise the commitment of which it speaks, and the reward that follows, and finally, the conduct that is reproved, and the reward that accompanies that.
[24:24] Now the contrasts are very stark, as indeed we are meant to see them, and as the text suggests. Eli was a priest and a judge over Israel, commissioned by God to minister to the people on his behalf.
[24:47] And this he did. Eli was a man of God who served God in the temple with a measure of commitment and diligence.
[24:57] However, not all was right in the household of Eli. Despite being in a line of priests according to God's appointment, his sons who had followed after him were abject sinners.
[25:15] The picture we are given of them shows the kind of people they were. Verse 12 shows they had no right to occupy the office of the priesthood, because quite simply they did not believe in God.
[25:33] It states they knew not the Lord. As a direct consequence of this, in fulfilling the duties they were called to, they were self-serving and dishonest.
[25:47] When they supervised the offering of sacrifices, they flagrantly abused the privilege that they had. But not only does this affect them, unfortunately, others who offer sacrifices, according to the ritual regulations of the offering, see this abuse, and I believe they are put off by what they see.
[26:15] If we read verse 17, we find here, wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord.
[26:26] For, note well, men applaud the offering of the Lord. Now the ESV translation has it the men, the translation suggesting that their corrupt actions are what is the focus.
[26:46] but I would argue that there was a negative impact upon others when they looked at the way they flagrantly disbelieved God by not following the requirements of the law.
[27:13] not only were they negligent in their conduct of worship they incorporated into it no doubt as part of it practices that belonged to idolatry.
[27:31] They lay with the woman that assembled at the door of the tabernacle following the debauched example of the Canaanite relations some of the commentators believe that there are ample examples that suggest that this is what had taken place.
[27:54] It is true that Eli rebuked them for this behaviour but as one preacher puts it their behaviour merited a severe chastening at least.
[28:07] In his commentary Gordon Keddie reminds the reader that according to the word of God the duty of the parent with regard to a profligate son who refused the parental discipline was to bring them to the civil authorities for judgment.
[28:27] Failing to do so was exposed and has exposed Eli to condemnation and certainly it is plain from the words of the prophet who speaks to Eli that God will judge them and in a measure him for kicking at his sacrifices and offerings.
[28:54] Now it is easy for us to have a spirit of judgment while we look at Eli's failure and especially the failure of his sons.
[29:08] But remember when you point a finger at godly parents whose children are reprobate or unbelieving you are doing no more than they themselves had done when they considered their own grief with much heart searching when sons and daughters choose not to follow the good example of their parents.
[29:36] But we said we have a contrast. Eli's sons are contrasted with Hannah and her son Samuel. Samuel was a child of many prayers.
[29:49] She was grieved and mournful because of her childlessness. Her spirit was deeply sorrowful but it took her to the Lord God so when God provided an answer to her prayer she acknowledged that by calling him by a name that recognised God's provision for her.
[30:13] Samuel I have asked him of the Lord. She had promised the Lord that he would have Samuel all his days and she complied with her promise and brought him to serve the Lord in the temple when ready to do so.
[30:34] Her faithfulness and Samuel's ministry before the Lord both exemplify the kind of behaviour that is the complete opposite of what we have seen before.
[30:47] We read that Samuel was in favour both with the Lord and with men. A very clear contrast is set before us.
[31:01] But the commitment that is expected is also declared. We have these words them that honour me I will honour.
[31:16] What is clear from this contrast is that there is a dutiful commitment to the Lord required of his people. They are obligated to him as their God.
[31:29] They owe him loyalty, fidelity, faithfulness, and by fulfilling what is expected God is honoured. The question may be asked and often is asked by some how can I honour God?
[31:48] And there may be more than one answer that is possible. One answer would be you cannot do so without giving God his place. Very often in the Psalms that is what is spoken of by way of counsel.
[32:06] I will just give you one example among many. In Psalm 29 Give ye unto the Lord ye sons that of the mighty be all strength and glory to the Lord with cheerfulness give ye unto the Lord the glory give that to his name is due and in the beauty of holiness unto Jehovah bow.
[32:32] According to John Calvin, the psalmist in this instance is instructing the proud princes of this world who raise themselves up against God to ascribe glory to God before he shows them who really has power.
[32:51] They are as we are to remember who he is and that no matter the high opinion we may have of ourselves he alone is the high and lifted upon.
[33:05] He is the God Jehovah eternal unchangeable in his being etc. He commands and demands service and we are miserably and constantly failures in all we seek to do for him.
[33:23] Our obedience is required to his revealed will and while we can never do with the perfection that is required everything everything that is expected of us we are required nevertheless to strive to the best of our ability we do honour him by making the effort we are to do our very utmost to honour him in this way we take him at his word and so honour him in this way receiving as one put it up and believing the truth concerning ourselves as fallen sinners and salvation as it is wrought through his son we all want God to bless us but many are not prepared to do what God would have us do in order to have the blessing in the field of sport as many may know stars of track and field they have become champions in their own field but not without doing the hard miles as they say pay off follows graft in the spiritual world pay off follows obedience
[34:43] I will honour them that honour me it is as simple as that if you love me God says keep my commandments that is not the same as to say keep my commandments and that will make me love you some may think that that is what is being said but no herein Jesus says is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit the Puritan preacher Stephen Charnock writes promised the writer preacher
[35:54] Gordon Keddie uses the example and we've often heard it quoted of the 1924 Olympic Games where Eric Lidder took the gold medal in 400 metres creating a world record at the time he tells the story as it's told by John Keddie back in the British quarters on the morning of the final a British team masseur passed a little note to little who said he would open it at the stadium the note read in the old book it says he that honours me I will honour wishing you the best of success always it was a quotation and a quotation from this passage and by little's own testimony that act and that note had a proud profound effect on the outcome of the race as you know many of you will know the story little had been one of the favourites for the 100 metres but he had chosen not to run because the heats were to be run on the
[37:12] Sunday and as a Christian he believed that he needed to honour the Lord and that was more important to him than seeking honour for himself by winning a race them them not honour me I will honour the context as we noted faithfulness to God is the precursor to that honour it is conferred openly on Hannah as we read it is abundant it is lasting it is constant nothing compares to it his promise to Abraham was and this was conditional on covenant faithfulness I will bless thee and make thee a blessing what could be plainer than the words of Jesus himself if any man serve me let him follow me and where
[38:13] I am there shall also my servant be if any man serve him serve me him will my father honor in chapter 14 his promised honor is plain if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there he may be also but finally and briefly the last two things the conduct reproved and the reward of that conduct to despise the Lord by unbelief by rejection of salvation by disobedience neglect of the means of grace all kinds of the conduct that will bring displeasure we see plainly how it is fulfilled in the experience of Eli and his descendants in verses 31 and 32 behold the prophet says the days come that
[39:20] I will cut off thine arm and the arm of thy father's house that there shall not be an old man in thine house and thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation in all the wealth which God shall give Israel and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever disobedience not honouring God brings God's judgment and displeasure many choose to reject God and his word and believe that is the last word on the matter of course it is not God is in no hurry to prove that the preacher Angus Galbraith in a sermon that was preached by him and is contained in a gathering of his sermon states all the honour the wicked attain to will soon be laid in the dust the ranks and honours of this life death will soon strip of all they are soon forgotten what we need to remember and what
[40:30] God's word encourages us to believe man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever glorify him honour him the same thing and in so doing we enjoy him and take delight in him and he brings delight to us may he bless to us these thoughts let us pray Lord have mercy upon our souls enable us to be God honouring in all things that we do go before us cleansing from sin and now may grace mercy and peace from God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you all now and always Amen