[0:00] I'm going to sing to God's praise from Psalm 103, Psalm 103 from verse 8 to verse 15.
[0:14] The Lord, O God, is merciful unto us, gracious, longsuffering and slow to wrath, in mercy plenteous. He will not chide continually, nor keep his anger still.
[0:26] With us he dealt, not as we sinned, nor did we quite our will. For as the heaven in its height the earth amounteth far, so great to those that do whom fear his tender mercy are.
[0:41] As far as east is distant from the west, so far hath he from us removed in his love all our iniquity. Such pity as a father hath unto his children dear, like pity shows the Lord to such as worship him in fear.
[0:59] For he remembers we are dust, and here frame well knows. Frail man his days are like the grass, as flower in field he grows.
[1:10] Let us sing these verses, Psalm 103 from verse 8. The Lord, O God, is merciful unto us, gracious. The Lord, O God, is merciful unto us, gracious, gracious, and gracious, gracious, and gracious, gracious, gracious, and gracious, and gracious.
[2:03] 하el billet P之ali. God, is merciful to us, by word of God. The Lord, O God, is merciful to us,三 Mitchum. That was merciful to us, as we sinned, nor did we quite our will.
[2:19] Th думer first, $1 a blessing, Lord to others, Father, in far as we sinned, circulate by the influence. He isesty. He did not as we sing, nor did we quite the room.
[2:37] For as the heavenly side, the earth's armor defiled.
[2:56] So great to us, the beauty of the earth is, and the mercy is.
[3:14] As far as he's disdain from the west of Parhati, From us remember within his love, all our relic redeemed.
[3:54] Such pity as the Father hath unto his children hath.
[4:14] Like the occasions the Lord to such us worship him in fear.
[4:32] For he remembers we are just, and he is our friend well knows.
[4:51] For he remembers we are just, and he is our friend well knows.
[5:11] We can turn once again to the first book of Samuel, chapter 7.
[5:25] And we'll read at the beginning of the chapter. And the men of Kyriath-Jaron came and fetched up the ark of the Lord, And brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, And sanctified Eliezer his son to keep the ark of the Lord.
[5:43] And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kyriath-Jaron at the time was long, For it was twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
[5:56] And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, Saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, Then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, And prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, And he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
[6:19] Well, as we said last Thursday evening, We're going to just take a few evenings, Considering the life and ministry of this prophet and priest, Who is numbered amongst the last of Israel's judges.
[6:42] And we began by setting out the spiritual climate, Leading up to his appointment, Or his calling, To serve the Lord in that capacity.
[7:00] We noticed a way that the providence of God was arranged, So that he was established in some ways, Even before his birth.
[7:14] The word of God declared to us, The interest that the Lord had in him, Through the instrumentality, I suppose, of his mother, But through the blessing of the Lord.
[7:31] Samuel came to be the fulfillment of his mother's vows, And the Lord's promise.
[7:43] And that again is something that God arranged, In a way that goes beyond our human reason, Or our ability to understand it.
[7:55] And it impacted not only upon the one who took the vow initially, And the Lord who saw his promise fulfilled, But the covenant nation to whom this promise would become all important.
[8:18] We can begin with just a reminder of these verses that we read at the beginning, That come at the end of chapter 3, And at the beginning of chapter 4.
[8:34] And then outline the events that come between these words, That set out for us, The place that Samuel was going to occupy in the experience of Israel.
[8:49] And there are three chapters, strangely, That come, And they make no mention of the passion of Samuel at all.
[9:01] And yet, the Lord is most active amongst the people, The people that bear his name. And active in the sense that he makes himself known in their worship, Or in their failure to worship as they ought.
[9:23] So we'll just mention that. And then, just for this evening, We'll look at what is set before us in this chapter.
[9:34] It's a chapter that's very interesting to the Lord's people. But I want us to focus on the knowledge that the Lord's people come to, Concerning the absence of the Lord, Which might sound a bit strange, But they do come to a knowledge of the absence of the Lord.
[10:02] And how Samuel meets that discovery that they make, With the instruction that they are given to repent, And to turn to the Lord.
[10:21] And not just to turn to the Lord, But to turn away from their idols. And then we notice, Alongside that, How Samuel is portrayed as the high priest, Or in his priestly role, As an intercessor for the Lord's people.
[10:48] And how he fulfills that role. There's more to be said about that, And we'll come back to it, Hopefully, Next Thursday.
[11:03] But these are the thoughts, Main thoughts that we're going to have. Now, I don't want to spend too much time, Repeating or rehearsing, What we had said the previous evening.
[11:19] We noticed, How Samuel grew to manhood, And that would be expected, As he matures from infancy, Into youth and adulthood.
[11:37] You would expect growth. But that's not the growth that's important. It is his spiritual maturity that is highlighted.
[11:49] And it is essential for him, And for the Lord's people, In particular to whom he is going to minister, That this growth into maturity takes place.
[12:04] The Lord encourages that, In the life and the experience of God's people, And all of them, Not just those who are called to function within, Official capacities in the Lord's service.
[12:21] You remember, The words that the Apostle Peter, Utters at the end of his second epistle, Grow in grace, And in the knowledge, Of the Lord.
[12:37] You notice, In that context, The immediate verse that comes before it, Is all important, Because that injunction that comes, From the Apostle, Is offered in light of, What he says before that, Ye therefore, Beloved, Seeing ye know these things before, Beware, Lest ye also, Being led away with the error of the wicked, Fall from your own steadfastness, But grow in grace, And in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, To him be glory, Both now and forever.
[13:15] This spiritual growth, That the Apostle insists upon, Is insisted upon, In light of the exposure, That the Lord's people have, To the machinations of evil, That are in the world.
[13:36] And, In a sense you could, Understand that to be true, For Samuel, That that growth, That that growth was essential, Because of the role, That he was going to occupy, That he lived in a world, That was desensitised, To the power, And the nature of God, Even amongst God's people, And as one who was called, To minister to them, It was essential for him, That his growth in grace, And in the knowledge of God, Should be something that, That was in evidence.
[14:24] As one theologian has put it, Regarding to the growth, Of the Lord's people, The only way he said, To avoid falling, In the experience of the Christian, Is to advance, The only way to, To experience, Or to avoid slipping back, Is to go forward, Which seems obvious, But, Why, If it's obvious, Is it often, The case that it has to be, Something that we are reminded of, We all run the risk, Of backsliding, We all run the risk, Of slipping into, Ways that are, Detrimental, To our spiritual lives, So when it says here, That Samuel was one, Who grew, That growth is, Is something that, That was essential, For him, In the role that he was to fulfil,
[15:25] And as he grew, He was noticed, He was identified, As the verses, Make known to us, As someone, Who not only knew the Lord, But knew him, In a particular way, And as we read in that, We, These three verses, The word of the Lord, Was essential, To the growth of Samuel, Not only essential, For his growth, But essential, For the growth of others, Because, It was this word, That he, Was, Exposed to, And, This word, That spoke to himself, That he, Spoke to others with, And again, It seems, To be an obvious thing, To state, But it is something, That, We need to remind ourselves of, It's not man's wisdom, That's going to, Propel, Propel, The cause of Christ,
[16:26] In a forward trajectory, But the word, Of the living God, And that is, What needs to be, At the heart, Of, Our ministries, At the heart, Of our testimonies, The heart, Of our deliberations, In order to see, Prospering of God's cause, If it is, Even, A short deflection, Away from, The origin, Then it runs the risk, Of losing its power, And Samuel, As God's, Called, Prophet, Was fed with the word, Was informed by the word, And he came to the people, With the word, And it was because, He came to the people, With the word, That he was recognized, As God's servant, And that, Those who met with him, Knew, That he couldn't, But be God's servant, So,
[17:28] That is where we, We leave Samuel, For a time, And, We, Find, That there is this, Space, It's not a, A chronological space, At all, But rather, The telling of the story, Diverts attention, To, The place, That God's people, Occupied, Within, The providence of God, At the time, As it focuses, On the ark of the covenant, And the ark of the covenant, Becomes central, To the telling, Of the story, The ark of, Of the Lord, It's not, I don't think, It's very long, Since we, We spoke about this, But we have, A superstitious people, Or supposedly, Religious people, But their religion, Is little better, Than superstition, And I think, That is emphasized, If you read it again,
[18:30] For yourself, How, The superstition, Of God's people, Is, Followed, Almost instantly, By the superstition, Of the Philistines, The, The, The people of God, Think that, By bringing the ark, Into their camp, That they will, Have success, And when they, Cheer and celebrate, The coming, Of the ark, Of the Lord, The Philistines, With an equally, Superstitious mind, Think that, The Lord, Has come into the camp, Or one of their gods, More properly set, But, The, The Lord, Knows, The heart of man, And he knew, The, The state, The spiritual state, Of God's people, At the time, So we have, The account, Of how, The ark, Came into, The camp, Of what happened, As a result of it, And,
[19:31] How the, How the, The, The record of the death, Of, Of, Of, Hophni and Phinehas, The death of Eli, The account of the death, Of Phinehas's wife, And her words, And all that is, Is sort of, Undergirding, The telling of the story, It's, Re-emphasizing, The, The nature, Of the, People's, Spiritual condition, How, How truly, Far, Far, From God, They had begun, Because when you read this, Chapter, And, You come to think of them, Longing for God, How does that make sense?
[20:19] Unless you take to heart, The, The place that they occupied, Having gone away from God, So the story of the ark, The ark being, Taking captive, And the ark, Ark being taken into the camp, Of the philistines, The, The events that surrounded, The, The encounter between, The, The, The idol, That fell on its face, When the ark was placed, In the temple, And, So on, And, Dagon is, Is, Seen to be, Nothing but an idol, And all of these things, Read them for yourselves, They're, They're, They're telling, A different story, And, Strangely, As I said, Samuel, Samuel doesn't get a mention, In any of that, Until we get to, Chapter 7, And then at the beginning,
[21:21] Of chapter 7, You are introduced, To, This, Situation, Where, The, The people, Of God, Are longing, For God, And, The ark, At this time, Has been brought into, The place, Another thing, I suppose, I should have said, How, How jealous God is, Of his own holiness, I think that is part, Of the telling of the story, You know, When the, When the ark is, Is, Is taken into, You know, After all, The negative impact, On the Philistines, They, They want, Rid of the ark, And, It is, Taken into, The, The camp, Of, Of, Of, The Beth Shemesh, And, The,
[22:22] They saw, The ark, And, They celebrated, The coming of the ark, And, But, Foolishly, They looked into the ark, And, We're told that, 56,000, Of them, Were put to death, By God, Because, They disobeyed God, They, They did what, They were not supposed to do, They looked inside the ark, Now, You'd think, That was a trivial thing, It's a minor thing, Doesn't mean much, Surely, Just, Curious, They would want to find out, But the Lord, Is God, And his word, Is sure, And it remains in place, And those who, Who, Dismiss it, Dismiss him, And God, Had a lesson, For them as well, And it was a hard lesson, And a severe lesson, But, That was,
[23:24] Part of it, So the ark is moved, And it comes, To spend 20 years then, In Curious, Geron, Now, It's, Recorded by son, That during that period, Samuel is preaching, Samuel is teaching, Samuel is going, Amongst the people, We're not told that, All we're told, Is that, For whatever reason, And I believe, It's the work of the Lord, That, It came to pass, While the ark abode, In Curious, Geron, That the time was long, For it was 20 years, And without, Explanation, We are told, All, The house of Israel, Lamented, After the Lord, That word, Lamented,
[24:24] Suggests to us, That, It was some kind of, Spiritual, Experience, That you would associate, With, Repenting, But, Some translations, Have it simply, That they longed, After the Lord, Lamented, Propels us, In the direction, Of grieving, Or sorrowing, Whereas, Longing, Suggests something, Different, A sense, That something, That should be there, Isn't there, And you, Decided to be there, Now, I believe, That lament is there, For a reason, Because it, It tells us, Something of what, Will happen, But, It doesn't necessarily, Mean, That their sorrowing,
[25:25] Was something, That, That's, That started, To begin with, Because, Sometimes, When the Lord, Works, His work, Is done, Secretly, His work, Is done, Deep in the heart, And in the mind, Of his, People, Or those, That he is going, To make his people, And, While it may be, The case, That he introduced, Sorrowing, To their heart, And as a result, Of that sorrow, They saw the Lord, That it could, Easily be, True, That they, Became, Aware, Of, Where they were, Really, As far as, God was concerned, Their spirituality, Was, A low, If you, Put it like that, If you, Want to think of it, You couldn't, Get lower, Than they were, They had gone,
[26:26] Away from God, And God, Was no longer, In the rightful, Place in their life, And the relationship, That they had, With God, Is epitomized, By the way, That, These people, Who suffered, God's condemnation, Because they, Ignored, The truth, Of God, They ignored, The command of God, They ignored, The word of God, Which suggests, That they were, Oblivious to it, Or at least, Ignorant of it, But, You can't, Have knowledge, Of God, And, Have God, Missing from your life, Without knowing, That there is, Something missing, And if God, Is missing, From the life, Of a believing, People, Then they know, Someone is missing, They know, Something is missing, And God himself,
[27:28] Is the one, That they look for, They longed, For the Lord, They lamented, For the Lord, And, This sense of longing, Is not a natural thing, It is not something, That a person, Can arrive at, Without God's intervention, If it is, Genuine, If it is, Genuine, If it is, Genuine, Longing, For the Lord, If it is, Genuine, Sorrow, For the Lord's, Absence, It is the Lord himself, That creates that, We might think, That it is, A natural thing, That will, Eventually, Come into being, In the life of, Any person, Well, Think about it, In your own life, Are you prepared, To say, That, When God, Began to deal,
[28:29] With you, Personally, That you, Were in such a place, Entirely, By your own, Endeavors, That you, Arrived in a place, Where, Where you, Were aware, Of your sin, Where you, Were aware, Of the need, For salvation, The need, For mercy, Did you, Always have that, Sense, Did you, Always have that, Awareness, Did you, Always, Think that, Well, This must change, That is, Truly remarkable, If that is the way, It is, Because, When we look at, The way, Scripture, Describes to us, The state, Of man, By nature, They are, So estranged, From God, That they, Have no knowledge, Of God, As their God, Or a willingness, To engage, With God, As their God,
[29:29] Or a desire, To meet, With that God, If anything, That God, Is someone, They want to put, As far away, From them, As possible, I remember, Once being, In a, In a, Home, In the island, And, There were two sisters, There, And they always, Used to sit, Side by side, And one of them, Was blind, And, She used to sit, Beside her sister, And she wasn't, Really aware, If her sister, Wasn't sitting there, But you could see her, At times, Putting her hand out, To feel, For the sister, That used to sit, Beside her, And it was, Really quite lovely, The, The, The relationship, That there was, Between them, They were both, Hard of hearing, But you would feel, For her sister, Like that, And feel for her hand, And,
[30:31] It may be, That, The kind of longing, That is described, Here, The kind of, Of, Seeking, Is for something, That was once there, But, Has been taken away, What has taken it away, Was their own, Pursuit, Of, Of idols, And, Only God, Could rekindle, That desire, For himself, And that's, I think, What is important, Because, Where we go, From here, Is, To the place, Where the, The, The prophet, And the priest, And the judge, Samuel, Speaks, To them, In their need, Look at what he says, They, They, They, They, Lamented, After the Lord, And Samuel,
[31:31] Spoken, To all the house, Of Israel, Saying, If you do return, And to the Lord, With all your hearts, Well, If they've gone away, From the Lord, Then they must return, And if they haven't, Gone away, The word return, Is redundant, It doesn't mean anything, But you must return, He says, With all your hearts, And that must take place, But he doesn't leave it there, He doesn't just say, Return to the Lord, Because he knows, Where they've been, He knows, That they've gone, From the Lord, He knows, That they've engaged, With other gods, That they've found themselves, Taken up with these idols, And he tells them, You are to, Put them away, Put away these strange gods, And ashtaroth, And prepare your hearts, Unto the Lord, And serve him only, And he will deliver you, Out of the hand, Of the Philistines, That's a picture,
[32:32] Of the way, Repentance works, In the experience, Of the Lord's people, Even, Sometimes, If you go back, To your own experience, And it's not true, For everyone, I would imagine, But, Some people, Anyway, And, They began, Their journey, With God, By, By putting, Themselves, Right, Putting, Right, Putting their own, House in order, And, They, Listened to God's word, And they said, Well, We'll do this, And we'll do that, And then we'll come, And the problem, With that kind of reasoning, Is that, When you come to the Lord, It's on the basis, Of what you've done, That you expect him, To receive you, I've done this, And now you do that, But that's not, What the, What Samuel is saying here, You come to the Lord,
[33:36] And you put away, These, Ashtaroth, And gods, That's what you must do, You come, And you put them away, There must be a clear view of sin, Sin, But also an understanding, That God is merciful, And that's, Important, And true, For genuine repentance, And to life, If you don't, Have a clear sense, Of the mercy of God, In Christ Jesus, Then, Your, Repentance is not, The repentance, That is life giving, Without the latter, There will always be, The fear, Have I done enough, Or should I do more, But, With a sense, Of the mercy of God, An apprehension, Of the mercy of God, As the psalmist puts it, In Psalm 130, Which describes to us, The reality, Of, What genuine repentance is, But here Samuel,
[34:38] Expects the turning to God, To be accompanied, With the turning away, From gods, Put away your baals, Put away your ashtaroth, The preacher, Dale Ralph Davies, In his commentary, Says, And I suppose, We're not aware of it, As much as we should be, That, The, The gods, The deities, That are named there, Were, Were deities of the flesh, They were, Idols, That demanded, An immorality, In the practices, That, That were followed, In order to worship them, And they were so deeply, Ingrained, In that kind of, Idol, Worship, That it wasn't going to be, An easy thing, To turn their back, Upon it, But if they were going, To come to God, They must do that,
[35:38] They couldn't have both, They couldn't have God, And their idols, The two things, Were in conflict, And sometimes, And it's so, Sad, When you hear it, When people ask, Well, I want to be a, Christian, But, Do I have to, Leave this, Do I have to, Turn my back on this, Do I have to, To become, This kind of person, It's as if, It's too much to ask, If you, If you have to leave, Behind anything, That you, That means something, To you, But if that something, Is a dot, With who God is, And what God, Is like, Then at your peril, You retain it, And that's what, Samuel was saying, You can't, You can't have your, Your balls, And your ashtals, And have God, You must leave them,
[36:41] And come, To God, And, What, Dale, Ralph Davis says, Is this, That, Genuine repentance, Will always move, Beyond, Wet eyes, And, Moving, Mood feelings, That will cast down, Idols, And cling, To the only God, You'll remember, You'll remember the words, Of William Cowper, Where, In his poem, In his hymn, He says, The dearest idol, I have known, Whatever that idol be, Help me, Help me tear it, From thy throne, And worship only thee, And you don't, I don't know, I don't know, What your idol is, I don't know, What your idol was, But I'm sure, They occupy the throne, And only God, Belongs on the throne, And if whatever, The idol is, Keeps you from God,
[37:42] You'll know, That you can't have both, So he encourages, Samuel encourages, Repentance, And he asserts, The need for loyalty, To God, And he insists, That that, Must take place, And he demonstrates, To us here, The priestly intercession, Which, Which he is willing, To fulfil, And the people, Recognize as something, That he must, Continue to engage in, Samuel said, Gather all Israel, To misbe, And I will pray for you, Unto the Lord, That's a priestly act, That's something, That belongs, To his role, As intercessor, But then, Again, You see the people, Recognizing that, And, The children of Israel, Said to Samuel, Cease not to cry, Unto the Lord, Or God for us, That he will save us, Out of the hand, Of the Philistines, They understand,
[38:44] The need that they have, For an intermediary, Somebody, Somebody who will stand, Between them and God, Because, As you come to know, God as a holy God, Do you know, That there is something, That is true of you, That you would not, Want to be exposed, To that holiness, So they are fearful, They know, That, A God who is holy, Is a God that must be treated, With sensitivity, And with, With understanding, We are going to return, To this next, Thursday night, Because then he goes on, To fulfill, His role there, But it reminds us, I think, With this we will finish, Of, How it typifies, For us, The, The, The high priestly position, Of the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the great intercessor,
[39:45] Of his people, He is the one, Who pleads, Our cause, And he is the one, Who will save us, From our enemies, And, There is a, Sort of foreshadowing, Of that role, Brought home to us, Even, In the office, That Samuel occupies, Even so early, In the experience, Of the church of Christ, Let us pray, We pray your blessing, Upon, These truths, That speak to us, Of the waywardness, Of your people, And how, How oblivious, They may become, To their own, Backslidden condition, And to the emptiness, Emptiness of, Their lives, Except it be brought home, To them, With might, From on high, And that is the role, Of your Holy Spirit, To convict, And to convince, As much as to convert, And to bring us back, To, To the place,
[40:46] That is, Our, In Christ, We pray for your blessing, And these words, Forgive us, In Christ's, Redeemer's name, Amen. We're going to sing, In conclusion, Some verses, From Psalm 19, And at verse 12, Psalm 19, And verse 12, So, We are going to see, Light aura, l folk would call agree weniger.
[41:30] And while he was much more when he grew sick this fortnight the almighty man polite language was loved!
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[43:44] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji
[44:48] Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji Thank you.