WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.640 chapter 12. We're going to read again near the end of the chapter at verse 19. 1 Samuel 12 at verse 19. 00:00:13.580 --> 00:00:17.740 And all the people said to Samuel, pray for your servants to the Lord your God, 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:24.320 that we may not die, but we have added to all our sins this evil to ask for ourselves a king. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:31.300 And Samuel said to the people, do not be afraid. You have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:37.219 from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty 00:00:37.219 --> 00:00:43.000 things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:50.400 for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:57.140 as for me, be it far from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, 00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:01.960 and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:12.819 Well, last Sunday evening, as you recall, we looked from 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 at Paul's appeal 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:19.219 for prayer. He was praying there for himself particularly, as he engaged in gospel ministry 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:24.340 and looked to the future, as God would enable him. Remember, we saw that he was praying for his 00:01:24.340 --> 00:01:29.819 protection, praying also that his word, the word of God, would be very much blessed through him, 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:35.659 and so on. And tonight's passage is also about prayer. It's not a deliberate connection with what 00:01:35.659 --> 00:01:42.079 we saw on the Lord's day, but nevertheless, this is where the Lord has led us. And here we find the 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:50.679 people appealing to Samuel to pray for them and not to cease from praying for them. Prayer is our great 00:01:50.679 --> 00:01:57.719 privilege at all times, to pray for ourselves, to pray for the Lord's blessing, to reach into our lives. 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:05.259 But it's equally a great privilege to pray for others. And indeed, praying for others is itself a 00:02:05.259 --> 00:02:10.680 mark of God's grace in our hearts. It's not something we do ordinarily. It's not something we do 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:18.620 until the Lord places in our hearts that desire to pray and people that he brings before us as 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:25.020 those that we pray for. In other words, intercessory prayer, as that's usually called, 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:32.600 is part of the privilege of praying to God as we pray for in that way and pray for ourselves as well. 00:02:33.760 --> 00:02:39.780 And we owe much to the prayers of others. You know this yourselves. Most, if not all of us here, 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:48.259 can in some way or trace the influence in our lives that the prayers of others led to, in terms of God 00:02:48.259 --> 00:02:53.979 hearing the prayers of those who prayed for us and came with his blessing in answering those prayers 00:02:53.979 --> 00:03:02.000 to touch our hearts, to bring us to know himself. And it's a wonderfully humbling thing to know that 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:07.900 people are praying for you. And it's a wonderfully humbling thing to know that you have come to know 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:12.980 the Lord in answer to the prayers of others who remembered you when you weren't praying for 00:03:12.980 --> 00:03:21.140 yourself and myself. So all of that comes under the privilege of prayer. And prayer, as I think I 00:03:21.140 --> 00:03:27.620 mentioned on the Lord's Day evening, prayer is something that binds us together as we pray for 00:03:27.620 --> 00:03:33.900 ourselves and pray for one another. One of the binding ingredients, if you like, of this meeting tonight 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:39.420 is that it's a prayer meeting. I know we study the word as we're trying to do just now, and it's a 00:03:39.420 --> 00:03:45.180 combined meeting for prayer and for the study of God's word. And those two, of course, features are 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:51.259 very important side by side along with each other. But as we pray here, as we pray for each other, 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:56.980 as we pray for others, the intercessory prayers you heard this evening from both these young men praying 00:03:56.979 --> 00:04:03.079 for others out with ourselves in many different aspects of the life of our nation, the life of 00:04:03.079 --> 00:04:09.419 the world. What a great thing it is that we tonight in this place in Stornoway, in this relatively small 00:04:09.419 --> 00:04:13.939 building compared to the whole world that's out there, we can pray and we have on our hearts to pray 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:20.199 for places like Ukraine, for Christians in such places as Pakistan, for places that are experiencing 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:25.839 such devastation, as well as praying for our nation and for ourselves. That, friends, is a massive 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:32.159 privilege, one that we sadly, I certainly sadly, so often take for granted, or at least don't 00:04:32.159 --> 00:04:40.239 don't actually take advantage of to the extent that I should. Now, here in Israel, this was a critical 00:04:40.239 --> 00:04:47.159 time in their history because they were coming to the point where a king, Saul, was actually set over 00:04:47.159 --> 00:04:54.279 them. This was something that they themselves had asked for, because if you look back to chapter 11 00:04:54.279 --> 00:05:06.179 and verse 15 there, you can see how it's referred to there, where you find the people invited to come 00:05:06.179 --> 00:05:14.479 with Samuel to Gilgal, so they went there and made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:21.539 And that's where Samuel then gives this address. He began addressing the people and he went back over 00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:27.340 some of their history. He got them to recall how they had actually come to ask for a king in the 00:05:27.340 --> 00:05:34.379 first place. And that fits in with chapter 8, of course. Chapter 8 is the chapter where that request 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:38.939 for a king, we'll come back to refer to it in a minute, but chapter 8 is the request of the people 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:46.420 for a king. And they had come to the point where they thought this was necessary for them. One of the 00:05:46.420 --> 00:05:50.840 things they mentioned was they wanted to be like the other nations. They wanted to be like the pagan 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:56.779 nations around them. They all had their kings. Those kings led them into battle. And here they 00:05:56.779 --> 00:06:03.539 were, Samuel, an old man. Here were the people of Israel saying, make us a king. Set a king over us. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:12.099 And this is what it led to, where the Lord, despite Samuel's reluctance, the Lord said, don't just give 00:06:12.099 --> 00:06:18.519 them what they asked for, because this is something that's part of my plan, my package for them. 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:24.919 They were going to suffer for it. Nevertheless, this is what the Lord said about it. And so you 00:06:24.919 --> 00:06:31.579 come here in verse 19, Samuel called on the name of the Lord. And then the Lord sent thunder and rain 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:36.500 that particular day. And the people greatly feared the Lord. And Samuel, they obviously saw, they knew 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:41.319 that Samuel was a man of God. They'd seen that many times. They'd heard him praying many times. 00:06:41.319 --> 00:06:45.300 And here again, he prayed and the Lord answered his prayer. And the people said to Samuel, 00:06:46.019 --> 00:06:52.959 pray for your servants to the Lord, your God, that we may not die. But we have added to all our sins, 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:59.740 this evil, ask for ourselves a king. Samuel said to the people, as we've read all the way through the 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:06.920 verses, and he then says in verse 23, moreover, as for me, be it far from me that I should sin against 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:13.480 the Lord. Look at how he puts it, that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. 00:07:14.400 --> 00:07:20.180 And so three things I want to just bring out briefly in regard to Samuel as a man of intercessory 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:26.200 prayer, who combined with this intercessory prayer, the element of teaching the people the things of 00:07:26.200 --> 00:07:33.800 God. Samuel, intercessor and teacher for the people of Israel. First of all, intercessory prayer 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:41.759 was a feature of Samuel's life from his youngest days. You recall that back at 1 Samuel, the early 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:49.100 chapters of 1 Samuel, Hannah's prayer, for example, there in verse 2, is where you find the life really 00:07:49.100 --> 00:07:57.460 of Samuel beginning in her prayer, her prayer for a child, and sorry, in chapter 1, her prayer for a child. 00:07:57.459 --> 00:08:05.479 And then the Lord, of course, answered that in giving her this child that she called Samuel. The word 00:08:05.479 --> 00:08:14.259 Samuel, the name Samuel itself, is indicative of prayer because it means asked of the Lord. Samuel was 00:08:14.259 --> 00:08:23.060 an answer to his mother's prayer for a child, and she dedicated him, as you know, to the Lord. The very 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:29.319 mother he had was a praying mother. He knew that from his earliest days. And after he was weaned, 00:08:29.339 --> 00:08:35.159 of course, she brought him to the house of God to serve the Lord there. And that's where he served 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:42.639 in the Lord's service all through these years. Of course, you might think that there wasn't much 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:48.600 time for him to get to know his mother's prayers if, as we say, as it says there, he was weaned and then 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:53.920 taken to the house of the Lord. But remember, weaning in those days was not in an infancy. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:09:00.360 It was very much down in maybe three or four years old before the children were fully weaned. So 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:05.240 Samuel would have had plenty of time to hear his mother's prayer, to get used to the fact that his 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:09.779 mother was a woman of prayer, a mother who loved the Lord, a mother who commended him to the Lord, 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:14.840 who prayed for him, who prayed for her people. I'm sure he heard that many times. 00:09:14.840 --> 00:09:22.460 And that's where Samuel learned to pray. That's where Samuel learned intercessory prayer. 00:09:23.060 --> 00:09:26.800 It was there, really, he imbibed it, you might say, with his mother's milk. 00:09:27.500 --> 00:09:32.340 And that, of course, follows into an area which could very, very readily explore, 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:38.840 well known to yourselves, the importance of bringing up children to know prayer to the Lord, 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:45.160 to experience what it is to pray for others in a family setting, to pray intercessory prayer, 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:50.399 just like Samuel learned to pray. This is what we pray for our young families as well. It's a 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:54.700 wonderful thing to have so many young families and so many dedicated teachers, some of whom are 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:59.720 here tonight, to teach them the things of God in our Sunday school and the other activities that 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:04.780 take place in tweenies and in the older age group as well of our children. What a marvellous privilege 00:10:04.779 --> 00:10:10.179 that is to be a congregation that has that privilege, that has that blessing. And we pray that 00:10:10.179 --> 00:10:16.199 these children, as they're presently growing up, will actually come as they hear in the family setting, 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:22.639 as they hear a parent, a mother or father are both praying, actually asking the Lord for his blessing 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:27.720 and asking the Lord for that blessing out with the family itself and even out with the congregation, 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.699 that they will learn for themselves how important prayer is and what intercessory prayer 00:10:33.700 --> 00:10:43.780 is all about. And so it became a feature of Samuel's life. If we go to Psalm 99, 00:10:44.920 --> 00:10:52.240 you'll find a reference there, interestingly, to Samuel alongside of Moses, a psalm that deals with God 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:59.060 as the holy God, the king of Israel, the king in his might, is praised there. But then, verse 6, 00:10:59.059 --> 00:11:06.939 Moses and Aaron were among his priests. Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. Now, 00:11:06.979 --> 00:11:13.419 it's interesting that Samuel is there, along with Moses and Aaron. Moses particularly, that the two 00:11:13.419 --> 00:11:19.719 names there exist together and what's said, because Moses was also a man of intercessory prayer. And as you 00:11:19.719 --> 00:11:26.219 find Samuel united to Moses there, it takes your mind back to the likes of Exodus 32, 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:32.139 where you find after the incident of the golden calf, the Lord saying to Moses to let him alone, 00:11:32.220 --> 00:11:38.240 that he was going to destroy this people. And then the Lord, Moses pleaded with the Lord, 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:49.200 Exodus 32 and verse 32, where you find Moses saying, alas, this people have sinned a great sin. See how 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:54.560 similar that is to the context in 1 Samuel we're looking at tonight. Alas, this people have sinned a 00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:00.179 great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will, forgive their sin. 00:12:00.719 --> 00:12:06.059 But if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written. But the Lord said to Moses, 00:12:06.719 --> 00:12:12.199 whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place 00:12:12.199 --> 00:12:19.459 about which I have spoken to you. And there's a prayer that we, as people who intercede for others, 00:12:19.460 --> 00:12:24.340 who don't, as far as we know, pray for themselves tonight. These are the very words. These are the 00:12:24.340 --> 00:12:31.060 very thoughts that you bring to God, where you say, alas, this people have sinned a great sin. Alas, 00:12:31.420 --> 00:12:37.600 our people, alas, our nation, alas, our people have sinned a great sin. They continue to sin a great sin. 00:12:37.900 --> 00:12:44.019 They continue to spurn the ways of God, to reject the ways of God. Alas, the church in our land, 00:12:44.019 --> 00:12:48.639 or some aspects of it, some parts of it, have sinned a great sin, because they've rejected the 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:53.199 Bible. They've rejected the Bible's teaching. They don't take the Bible for what it is. 00:12:54.899 --> 00:13:01.899 And we plead with God for them. We have the privilege of intercessory prayer to bring all 00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:08.600 of these things before the Lord, such as he did here. And you notice in verse 23 here of the passage 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:14.759 we're looking at tonight, these words of Samuel, where he's saying, moreover, as for me, 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:25.240 far be it from me, that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. Look at the strong 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:32.639 revulsion that Samuel speaks of in the very thought of ceasing to pray for these people, to pray for 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:39.080 them before the Lord. And that really makes such a challenge for ourselves, because we are tempted 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:46.399 so many ways away from praying and pleading with the Lord for others beside ourselves, even for people 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:52.340 that we know have sinned against the Lord and continue to sin against the Lord. But here is what 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:59.679 Samuel is saying. Forbid that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:06.759 Isn't that a challenge that we should think of not praying for other people or not praying for 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:13.759 ourselves and not praying for the church as a sin against God, as a failure on our part for which we 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:19.699 are culpable. That is what Samuel is really saying to us. Let's try and get that thought into our minds 00:14:19.699 --> 00:14:26.059 and keep it there, that far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray 00:14:26.059 --> 00:14:31.019 for one another or even for those out with our own congregation. 00:14:32.659 --> 00:14:41.919 Edison intercessory prayer, it was a part of Samuel's upbringing and how much that reminds us to that 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:50.119 last point of the Lord's own teaching to the disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:58.000 and verse 44. Because as we said, there's so much that seeks to tempt us away from praying for others, 00:14:58.060 --> 00:15:05.580 especially when something's happened to ourselves that others have done. Remember how Jesus said, 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:10.019 you've heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, 00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:17.080 love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:22.680 in heaven. For he makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on 00:15:22.680 --> 00:15:28.639 the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:35.300 do the same. And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the 00:15:35.300 --> 00:15:42.840 Gentiles do the same. You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. We pray even for 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:48.040 our enemies, not just for those who don't follow the ways of the Lord, but those who are very much opposed 00:15:48.040 --> 00:15:54.759 and engaged against him and against his cause. Here is Jesus saying something that fits in with what Samuel 00:15:54.759 --> 00:16:02.680 is saying himself, be it far from me that I should sin against the Lord by not or by ceasing to pray for you. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:10.660 So as intercessory prayer is very much a part of the Christian life, let us seek the grace from God that 00:16:10.659 --> 00:16:16.740 would take advantage and make the most of that because this world needs prayers and needs your prayers. 00:16:17.459 --> 00:16:22.659 It needs intercessory prayer. Our nation needs prayer. And we were reminded by both our 00:16:22.659 --> 00:16:29.980 brothers tonight of the need to pray for our new prime minister, for her cabinet, for the officers that 00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:35.980 she has appointed, to pray for those in opposition, to pray for the whole parliament, to pray for those who 00:16:35.980 --> 00:16:41.580 rule over us, to pray in such critical times as we face. This is intercessory prayer. This is our 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:48.700 privilege. This is what God has laid upon our hearts to do. Secondly, Samuel was not deflected 00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:55.800 from intercessory prayer. And when you go back to chapter eight again, as I mentioned, we'd just refer 00:16:55.800 --> 00:17:03.279 to it later on. The beginning of chapter eight, when Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:09.420 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, name of his second Abijah. They were judges in Israel, yet his 00:17:09.420 --> 00:17:18.379 sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. 00:17:18.819 --> 00:17:25.339 Then all the elders gathered together and said to Samuel, Atrama, behold, you are old and your sons do not 00:17:25.339 --> 00:17:32.339 walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased 00:17:32.339 --> 00:17:37.959 Samuel, when they said, give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. See, he prayed again 00:17:37.959 --> 00:17:43.879 to the Lord immediately. And the Lord said to Samuel, Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to 00:17:43.879 --> 00:17:52.899 you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. And he 00:17:52.899 --> 00:17:57.240 reflects on how they have been so stubborn, even since he took them out of Egypt. 00:17:57.240 --> 00:18:03.400 And so, you see, going back to that, you find that there is really, although it's primarily a 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:09.000 rejection of the Lord, Samuel was quite right, of course, in including in that a rejection of himself. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:15.579 And it really was treating him despitefully and treating him in a way that was really pretty nasty, 00:18:16.120 --> 00:18:20.640 pretty bad. They just said, you're too old for us, effectively. You've reached the stage of life. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:25.580 Anyway, we want to be like the nations around us. You can't go before us into battle. You're not a 00:18:25.580 --> 00:18:31.540 proper king. We want a king. We want a king like the nations around us to go into battle around, 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:38.320 to go into battle ahead of us. Samuel prayed, as we saw, to the Lord right there and then in that 00:18:38.320 --> 00:18:46.800 context. But you see, the rejection of Samuel by the people in seeking to have a king set over him 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:53.259 did not deflect him from prayer and for praying for them. It actually, if anything, just made him 00:18:53.259 --> 00:19:00.139 even more determined to pray for them. He prayed to the Lord about this. He was annoyed. And he wasn't 00:19:00.139 --> 00:19:06.839 annoyed just because they had sought a king instead of him. They were annoyed because he knew full well 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:14.099 that the Lord was their king. And what they were actually asking for was really a rejection of the 00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:23.019 Lord as their king and wanting a human king like all the nations. Well, of course, that's not confined to 00:19:23.019 --> 00:19:30.859 the days of Samuel. Is it that kind of thinking? Because sadly, you'll find elements of the visible church 00:19:30.859 --> 00:19:36.719 in our world that really are pretty much the same in their attitude towards what's going on around them. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:46.539 And that's where you find this very damaging idea, this damaging philosophy, this damaging thought 00:19:46.539 --> 00:19:52.960 process that really says, well, certain aspects of the gospel are just too outmoded. Just like they 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:58.400 said to Samuel, now you're old, so we want changes. They're really saying of the Bible, well, this Bible 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:03.660 is old. It's not relevant in all that it says for our present generation. We want to be like the other 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:08.720 people out there. We want some of that culture out there brought into the church. Let's modernize. 00:20:08.820 --> 00:20:14.660 Let's do things in a way that will really change things drastically from within. Let's be like what 00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:22.640 the world itself sees in terms of human relationships. Is that not progress? Of course, it's not progress. 00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:30.820 Wherever you find the word of God left behind or even adjusted to suit the culture of the age, 00:20:30.819 --> 00:20:39.899 that's not progression. That's regression. As John said in one of his letters, those that actually 00:20:39.899 --> 00:20:47.919 went ahead and left God behind, that wasn't progress. They went ahead into all kinds of new teachings, 00:20:48.179 --> 00:20:53.359 but they were leaving God behind. You see, that's the devastating thing that we see happening in our 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:59.899 generation. People who think that new ideas about the gospel itself and what the gospel is or the gospel 00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:04.600 should be. They may be very appealing. They may be very appealing to the world. They may be very 00:21:04.600 --> 00:21:11.060 appealing to the culture around us, but they've left God behind. Whenever you leave God behind, 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:15.900 well, you know you're in trouble because whatever you do, you're not going to have blessing. 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:22.080 You're not going to have the blessing of God. That's really a tangent there. I don't want to go into 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:28.299 that too much, but it's part of what you find connected with what the people said to Samuel here, 00:21:28.819 --> 00:21:33.839 that you've reached the end of your stage of ministry. We want something different. We want to 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:40.960 be like the nations around us, so make us a king. Now, that didn't deflect Samuel from praying for them. 00:21:41.939 --> 00:21:49.159 And indeed, you'll find the same when Saul was rejected by God. In chapter 15, verses 10 to 11, 00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:57.140 there you'll find a similar thing mentioned. Chapter 15, verse 10, the word of the Lord came to Samuel. 00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:04.620 I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned his back from following me and has not 00:22:04.620 --> 00:22:12.240 performed my commandments. And Samuel was angry and he cried to the Lord all night. See what he's saying? 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:21.299 He cried to the Lord all night. And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. As soon as the Lord had 00:22:21.299 --> 00:22:28.859 spoken to Samuel about his rejection, the Lord's rejection of Saul as king because of his disobedience, 00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:33.440 the way he had not followed the ways of the Lord, the first thing Samuel did was throw himself down 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:41.460 and pray and he prayed all night. When did I last pray all night? I can't remember. 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:51.880 When did I last pray overhearing such news as sometimes you hear in the world or in the church? 00:22:52.580 --> 00:22:57.000 Something that you know fills you with a sense of apprehension or dread? 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:05.359 Here is Samuel. You see, all of these events, the way in which he was rejected and a king being asked for in his place, 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:10.119 the way in which Saul is rejected from being king by the Lord because of what he had done. 00:23:10.380 --> 00:23:16.380 In each case, what does Samuel do? He prays. He turns to prayer. 00:23:16.380 --> 00:23:28.940 And that's a lesson, isn't it, for us to, for prayer to be prominent and the primary thing whenever we have such things 00:23:28.940 --> 00:23:36.660 as you find in these events in Samuel's life. And you can find the same when they face their enemies. 00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:44.920 Look at chapter 7. We're rattling through a few passages here, but you'll find the same thing in chapter 7 there 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:51.019 in verses 5 and then verse 8 to 9. Samuel said, gather all Israel at Mizpah. 00:23:51.120 --> 00:23:58.180 This is the context in which they needed to be delivered from the hand of the Philistines 00:23:58.180 --> 00:24:06.240 who had at that stage such a hold over them. Samuel said, gather all Israel at Mizpah 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:11.960 and I will pray to the Lord for you. So he didn't just go into his own home 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:17.620 and close the door and pray. That would have been absolutely fine. The Lord commands us to do that at times. 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:23.259 But he wanted the people to hear him praying, to pray for them. Gather all Israel at Mizpah. 00:24:23.420 --> 00:24:30.299 I will pray to the Lord for you. So they gathered at Mizpah and threw water, poured it out before the Lord 00:24:30.299 --> 00:24:35.559 and fasted on that day and said, we have sinned against the Lord. 00:24:36.039 --> 00:24:42.099 And go to verse 8. The people of Israel said to Samuel, do not cease to cry out to the Lord of God for us 00:24:42.099 --> 00:24:45.259 that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines. 00:24:46.159 --> 00:24:49.379 So Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it to the Lord. 00:24:49.380 --> 00:24:55.900 And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel and the Lord answered him. 00:24:56.460 --> 00:25:04.020 See the context again, doesn't matter really with the conditions this man is in or facing. 00:25:04.360 --> 00:25:08.320 It doesn't matter how things change from one situation to the next. 00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:13.920 But you will always find that this man turns to prayer, that this man brings it before the Lord 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:19.600 and pleads for the people before the Lord. He turns to intercessory prayer for the people. 00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:26.279 And while Samuel in chapter 7, of course, is engaged in prayer, as a result of that, 00:25:26.820 --> 00:25:33.560 you'll find a great victory given to Israel in response to the prayer of Samuel. 00:25:33.980 --> 00:25:39.480 So you could say really in a sense, you ask, what was Israel's greatest weapon against her enemies, 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:40.700 against its enemies? 00:25:40.700 --> 00:25:45.740 Well, the greatest weapon that they had at the time was Samuel's intercessory prayer. 00:25:46.779 --> 00:25:48.340 That was their greatest weapon. 00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:54.940 And that's a great weapon that we still have from the Lord to use, 00:25:55.259 --> 00:25:59.259 to wield against the Lord's enemies, not for their destruction, 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:03.519 but for their conversion, for their turning to the Lord, 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:07.920 for their being brought to see their need of Christ for themselves. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:13.440 Intercessory prayer was a feature of Samuel's life. 00:26:14.580 --> 00:26:17.740 And Samuel was not deflected from intercessory prayer. 00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:22.539 But then thirdly, Samuel linked intercession and instruction. 00:26:22.779 --> 00:26:27.960 Again, the passage in chapter 12, you see he's saying there that he will not, in fact, 00:26:28.060 --> 00:26:29.080 cease to pray for them. 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:36.099 But he also says, far be it from me that I should cease to pray sin against the Lord, 00:26:36.299 --> 00:26:40.419 and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 00:26:40.639 --> 00:26:42.879 And in fact, all the way through this short passage, 00:26:42.879 --> 00:26:49.159 you'll find instruction given by Samuel with regard to the people's instruction. 00:26:49.639 --> 00:26:52.980 Verses 20 to 22 there, you'll find Samuel said, 00:26:53.099 --> 00:26:53.919 do not be afraid. 00:26:54.220 --> 00:26:55.240 What is his instruction? 00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:58.579 Well, you can follow it through a few brief points, a few brief steps. 00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:01.180 He instructs them, first of all, by reassuring them. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:03.759 They have made this great confession of their sin. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:06.519 But then Samuel said, don't be afraid. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:11.480 You have done this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:13.099 but serve him with all your heart. 00:27:13.140 --> 00:27:16.940 In other words, what you have done, Samuel is saying, is not the end of the matter. 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:18.480 Things can be mended. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:20.200 Things can be put right. 00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:28.120 And at that stage, he is then going on to charge them to be obedient to the Lord. 00:27:29.180 --> 00:27:34.640 Don't turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 00:27:35.220 --> 00:27:39.160 And then thirdly, he instructs them about the foolishness of idolatry. 00:27:39.960 --> 00:27:46.319 Don't turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:52.059 He means by that especially the idolatry that they had imported, that belonged to the pagans around them. 00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:54.319 The interesting thing is this word empty. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:28:00.220 Recall right back at the beginning of the Bible, Genesis chapter 1, the account of the creation. 00:28:00.539 --> 00:28:07.339 The earth was without form and void or empty, formless. 00:28:07.339 --> 00:28:09.240 That emptiness. 00:28:09.959 --> 00:28:14.659 The same word that's used here for the foolishness of idolatry. 00:28:14.779 --> 00:28:18.000 Don't turn aside after empty things. 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:23.259 And of course, when you put beside that, the emptiness of idolatry. 00:28:23.379 --> 00:28:29.259 Idolatry just has no substance, nothing of any real substance to it. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:34.859 It's all just something that a puff of wind takes away when the Lord comes to blow upon it. 00:28:34.859 --> 00:28:36.699 Something like that. 00:28:36.779 --> 00:28:40.359 But when you contrast that with where the Bible presents God. 00:28:41.419 --> 00:28:44.479 The God of substance. 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:55.459 The God whose substance is holy and righteous and true and powerful and loving and faithful. 00:28:56.059 --> 00:28:57.599 Things of substance. 00:28:59.379 --> 00:29:02.359 Things that have weight morally and spiritually. 00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:08.259 When the Lord is saying to us, don't turn aside to other things apart from me. 00:29:08.399 --> 00:29:12.240 He's saying everything out with me lacks the substance that you need. 00:29:12.639 --> 00:29:14.419 I am the one who has the substance. 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:15.979 I am the Lord. 00:29:16.359 --> 00:29:17.359 That is my name. 00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:20.339 And my name carries the substance. 00:29:20.439 --> 00:29:22.559 It's one of the interesting things. 00:29:22.679 --> 00:29:25.740 The word for glory in Hebrew of the Old Testament. 00:29:26.059 --> 00:29:29.139 It's a word that literally means to have weight. 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:30.799 To have weight. 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:33.339 The Lord who is glorious. 00:29:34.339 --> 00:29:36.019 The glory of the Lord. 00:29:36.019 --> 00:29:38.379 It means something of substance. 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:39.519 Something of weight. 00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:42.059 Idolatry doesn't have that. 00:29:42.639 --> 00:29:48.619 Nothing outside of God has that weightiness of glory and of substance spiritually, morally. 00:29:50.379 --> 00:29:51.799 This is our God. 00:29:52.500 --> 00:29:59.180 And this is the God we pray to as we pray intercessory prayers on behalf of others. 00:29:59.180 --> 00:30:02.460 And he goes on from that. 00:30:02.519 --> 00:30:04.400 These are all very interesting steps. 00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:05.740 One that lead on to the other. 00:30:06.440 --> 00:30:08.920 He's saying, don't turn aside from following the Lord. 00:30:09.299 --> 00:30:12.400 Don't turn aside after empty things for they are empty. 00:30:13.060 --> 00:30:18.660 For he says, the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake. 00:30:18.660 --> 00:30:23.580 Because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. 00:30:23.580 --> 00:30:30.200 What an amazing amount of assurance and reassurance for them was in these words. 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.140 The Lord will not forsake his people. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:38.880 See, this is what their concern is. 00:30:39.460 --> 00:30:40.920 We've done this great sin. 00:30:41.960 --> 00:30:43.400 Pray to the Lord for us. 00:30:43.880 --> 00:30:45.040 Plead with the Lord for us. 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:47.960 Pray that he will not cast us off. 00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:49.879 That he will not reject us. 00:30:50.059 --> 00:30:52.159 We've rejected him to a great extent. 00:30:52.259 --> 00:30:53.639 But pray for us. 00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:57.180 This is Samuel's answer. 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:01.079 The Lord will not forsake his people. 00:31:01.779 --> 00:31:06.059 Because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. 00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:09.019 And really that reinforces the point. 00:31:09.420 --> 00:31:12.180 And it's such a hugely important point for ourselves tonight. 00:31:12.180 --> 00:31:22.580 Samuel is more or less saying, you know, if the Lord had it in his mind to reject you and forsake you, he'd never have made you a people for himself in the first place. 00:31:23.380 --> 00:31:30.680 But having made you a people for himself, that itself shows you and guarantees for you, he will never forsake his people. 00:31:31.360 --> 00:31:33.799 Those that he has made his people for his name's sake. 00:31:34.340 --> 00:31:36.460 His own reputation is tied to it. 00:31:36.460 --> 00:31:39.460 And again, you go back to the days of Moses. 00:31:40.380 --> 00:31:52.380 One of the arguments Moses pleaded in his intercessory prayer with God is, why should the Egyptians say that for evil you have taken your people out into the desert to destroy them? 00:31:52.900 --> 00:32:01.220 See, there is the momentous consideration that Moses had in mind as he was praying for the people. 00:32:01.220 --> 00:32:06.779 Just as Samuel has here, Lord, your reputation is attached to your people. 00:32:08.299 --> 00:32:18.680 And here is Samuel saying, you know, the Lord's reputation is such that he would never take his people, you to be a people for himself and then reject you. 00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:23.000 That would be contradictory to his name, to his very nature. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:37.359 But at the same time, he's saying, only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart, for consider what great things he has done for you. 00:32:38.279 --> 00:32:39.460 Well, there it is. 00:32:40.180 --> 00:32:42.319 Isn't it the same for ourselves? 00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:47.579 If we consider what great things he has done for you. 00:32:47.579 --> 00:32:54.319 And our brothers in prayer tonight also brought that out in their prayer to God. 00:32:55.599 --> 00:32:58.679 The sheer goodness of God to us. 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:02.919 The amazing goodness of God to us. 00:33:04.879 --> 00:33:12.059 How many people go to the COPE or to Tesco and think that these things have just been man-produced? 00:33:13.019 --> 00:33:16.000 The things that we need for our bodily sustenance. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:22.279 A Christian goes in there or should go in there and say, Lord, I thank you for this abundance. 00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:26.299 I thank you for being so good and providing this. 00:33:26.759 --> 00:33:29.079 When I know that so much of the world is starving. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:32.660 But you have placed this in our possession. 00:33:33.220 --> 00:33:37.980 You have placed us in this privileged position of having access to this in your goodness. 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:40.279 And that's just one thing, the food that you eat. 00:33:40.279 --> 00:33:45.240 Look at all the other things we have that are really attributable to God's goodness. 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:53.740 Only, he said, fear the Lord and consider what great things he has done for you. 00:33:53.740 --> 00:33:58.180 And when we consider what great things the Lord has done for us. 00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:02.859 Not only will we pray for ourselves with thankfulness. 00:34:03.700 --> 00:34:07.759 But we will be also busy with intercessory prayer. 00:34:08.900 --> 00:34:09.719 Praying for others. 00:34:10.739 --> 00:34:14.019 That they too will know the Lord's blessing. 00:34:14.519 --> 00:34:14.900 Let's pray. 00:34:14.900 --> 00:34:19.559 Almighty and gracious God. 00:34:20.840 --> 00:34:23.099 We know that all things are in your hand. 00:34:24.059 --> 00:34:28.220 And we pray, O Lord, that as we consider the goodness of the Lord to us. 00:34:28.880 --> 00:34:36.720 And as we consider this passage of your word that fills us with so many challenges and yet gives us such great reassurance. 00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:40.399 We thank you, Lord, that you hear our prayers. 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:45.439 We thank you that you give us this facility of intercessory prayer. 00:34:46.399 --> 00:34:50.179 Hear our prayers, Lord, tonight, spoken and also silent. 00:34:50.579 --> 00:34:51.819 They are all known to you. 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:54.159 We pray that you would hear us. 00:34:54.779 --> 00:34:57.239 And that you would answer us for your name's sake. 00:34:57.899 --> 00:34:59.839 As we pray for others as we have done. 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:06.660 We ask, Lord, that you would continue to remind us daily of how much we owe to you. 00:35:07.500 --> 00:35:11.780 And how much you have dealt with us, not according to our sins or iniquity. 00:35:12.300 --> 00:35:16.480 But in your pity and mercy, you have come with your blessing after blessing. 00:35:17.539 --> 00:35:19.500 Bless us, we pray, as a congregation. 00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:24.000 As we continue to seek your own guidance and your blessing in the gospel. 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.200 And graciously bless those of our number who have not yet come to know you. 00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:32.659 Have not yet come to profess that they know you. 00:35:32.980 --> 00:35:39.139 We ask that you would bless them, Lord, to bring them onwards in their own spiritual lives and development. 00:35:39.799 --> 00:35:43.939 And we ask now that you would be with us in the rest of this week. 00:35:44.500 --> 00:35:47.779 And enable us as we look forward again by your grace to your day. 00:35:48.259 --> 00:35:53.460 That we may rejoice at the prospect of being together in the house of the Lord. 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:55.439 And as the house of the Lord. 00:35:55.980 --> 00:35:57.759 That we may know your presence with us. 00:35:58.379 --> 00:35:59.159 Hear us, we pray. 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:00.759 For your glory's sake. 00:36:01.299 --> 00:36:01.579 Amen. 00:36:04.579 --> 00:36:06.319 Let's now conclude our service singing.