We'll begin our worship now by singing to God's praise. We're singing in Psalm 118 at verse 20.
Psalm 118 at verse 20, the tune is Warwick. Psalm we're so familiar with maybe at communion times
when we sing it. This is the gate of God by it, the just shall enter in. Thee will I praise,
for thou me heardst and hast my safety been. We'll sing from verse 20 down to the end of the psalm
to God's praise.
Amen.
Thee will I praise, for thou me heardst and hast my safety be.
That stone is made at cornerstone, which shinders in his eyes.
This is the doing of the Lord, and what has in our eyes.
This is the day, O made in it, will joy triumphantly.
Sing now, I pray thee, Lord, I pray, send thou prosperity.
Blessed is he in God's great name, that command us to save.
We from blood, which to the Lord, work day to bless it, are.
And what is the Lord due unto us, and make light to our eyes?
I pray thee unto thee, O Lord, work day to our hearts, with course the sacrifice.
Thy heart, my God, I'll be exiled.
My Lord, I will be praised.
Give thanks to God, for he is good.
His mercy lasts always.
Let's come to God in prayer.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, as we come to worship you, we thank you for the promise that you delight to hear our singing of praise.
You delight to hear your people offering a prayer to you, and you delight in worship.
And we pray, Lord, that we would delight in coming to you as well.
That we would rejoice that you are a God who hears and listens to all our prayers, from the youngest to the oldest here.
That you hear what we offer up to you in all our worship.
And we thank you that even as we come in prayer, it doesn't have to be with big words or long prayers.
But we can just come offering up just words of thanks to you, words asking for help from you, words asking for help for others.
And so much of our prayer, Lord, is that you will do us good.
That you will help us to know Jesus and the joy that he gives.
That you will help this world in which we live to know how precious a saviour you are
and the hope that you are able to give in the midst of all that goes on.
We thank you that the light of your word, your truth, shines in around us and even through us.
And so we pray, Lord, your blessing on us today.
Upon all that we hear and all that we do, may you be with us and guide us and keep us.
We pray especially for our young ones as they will go out shortly to the Sunday school, the creche and the tweenies.
We pray your blessing on them.
Encourage them together around your word as well and all of us together.
So hear all our prayers and accept our worship of you this day and pardon our sins as we ask it all in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, it's good to see you today and see so many young ones here today scattered all over.
Sometimes it's hard to find where you are because everyone's sitting in different places.
Well, it's good to see you and I want to ask you a question this morning.
Does anybody here have a pet at home?
Put your hand up if you've got a pet at home, yeah?
A few hands going up around the place.
All right.
Quite a few people have pets, yeah?
Maybe we have pets, different kinds of pets.
Anybody got a pet snake?
No?
Thank goodness, isn't it?
No, you wouldn't want a pet snake, would you?
Some people do, though.
Most people, maybe you have a dog or a cat or a hamster or something like that.
And when you get a pet, what's one of the first things you do?
When you maybe get a pet dog, what's the first thing you do?
Do you just call it dog or doggy?
No, you called a name, don't you?
Very often you give a pet a name.
So when your pet hears you calling that name, it might come running back to you.
Especially for dogs.
We've got a dog, he's called Benji.
And so if you shout Benji, you hope that he's going to come running back to you.
Now, maybe this seems like a strange question.
Does anybody have a pet stone?
It's not a pet, is it?
You don't have a stone that's a pet, do you?
Does anybody have a pet stone?
No?
It seems quite strange maybe to the idea of having a pet stone.
But perhaps you've got stones at home.
Maybe you've been to the beach one day.
Do you like collecting stones at the beach?
Maybe you see a nice colored stone and you take it home with you.
Maybe you've been out walking on the moor and you see another kind of stone lying there
and you think to yourself, that would be pretty at home.
So you take it home with you.
And sometimes people can collect a lot of stones in different places.
But do you ever give a stone a name?
Maybe not.
But in our Bible story today we're going to be looking at, we're going to be thinking about
someone who gave a stone a special name.
A man called Samuel had this special big stone that he called Ebenezer.
That's a funny name, isn't it?
Ebenezer.
Now, why do you think he called the stone Ebenezer?
Seems a funny name to us, doesn't it?
But to Samuel and to God's people it meant something really special.
They weren't calling this stone Ebenezer so that the stone would hear them.
They were calling this stone Ebenezer because it reminded them of something special.
Because the name Ebenezer means, till now God has helped.
And what they were doing was they had this stone that they would look to and they would
see it and it would remind them.
Just like maybe a stone would remind you of a beach you've been to or something like that.
This stone reminded the people of what God had done for them.
And they were able to say, till now the Lord has helped us.
So they weren't calling the stone a name as a pet.
They weren't calling the stone so they could shout to the stone Ebenezer.
They were calling it Ebenezer so they would remind them to call on someone else.
To call on God.
And to call on God giving thanks to him and rejoicing in him that he is the one who is
able to help.
And today we don't have a stone called Ebenezer.
We have another stone described in the Bible as a stone, a rock.
He's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we are able to call on him for help.
And to say that even till now he has helped us and he always will as we put our trust
in him.
So we think of the Ebenezer stone today.
The stone that reminds us that till now the Lord has helped us.
Well, we'll say the Lord's prayer together.
Now let's pray.
Amen.
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Well, we'll sing again to God's praise this time in Psalm 130 in the Scottish Psalter.
Psalm 130.
We're going to sing the whole of this psalm.
The tune is martyrdom.
And this is a psalm that reminds us, just as we were saying there, that we can call on
the Lord and that he hears us and is able to help us.
Lord, from the depths to thee I cried.
My voice, Lord, do thou hear.
And to my supplication's voice give an attentive ear.
We'll sing the whole of this psalm to God's praise.
Lord, from the depths to thee I cried.
My voice, Lord, do thou hear.
And to my supplication's voice give an attentive ear.
Lord, you shall sigh if thou, O Lord, should smart iniquity.
But yet with thee forgive me.
Forbiveness is the fear of the mayest need.
I wait for God, my soul of grace.
My hope is in his word.
Lord, I may not for more remorse.
My soul of grace.
For the Lord.
I say, Lord, I may not for more remorse.
My soul of grace.
For the Lord.
I say, Lord, I may not for more remorse.
For the Lord.
I may not for more remorse.
Let Israel open the door, for with him ask his feet.
And then Jesus' rejection, his severed heart, with him,
And from all his liberties, he Israel shall redeem.
Amen.
And so they decided eventually to return the ark back to God's people.
But even as it came back to God's people, as it returned to Israel, as you see in chapter 6,
the people of God didn't really know what to do with it either.
They had lost their focus of it.
They rejoiced in its return, but they didn't really know what to do with it.
And it was almost left for this period of time.
But then Samuel comes onto the scene in chapter 7.
And that's what we're going to focus on this morning.
But we'll take up our reading at verse 20 of chapter 6.
Then the men of Beth Shemesh said,
So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-Jerim, saying,
The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord.
Come down and take it up to you.
And the men of Kiriath-Jerim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill.
And they consecrated his son, Eliezer, to have charge of the ark of the Lord.
From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-Jerim, a long time passed, some twenty years.
And all of the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
And Samuel said to all the house of Israel,
If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart,
then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreth from among you,
and direct your heart to the Lord, and serve him only.
And he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreth,
and they served the Lord only.
Then Samuel said,
Gather all Israel at Mishpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.
So they gathered at Mishpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord,
and fasted on that day and said there,
We have sinned against the Lord.
And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mishpah.
Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mishpah,
the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel.
And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
And the people of Israel said to Samuel,
Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us,
that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.
So Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord.
And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel,
and the Lord answered him.
As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering,
the Philistines threw near to attack Israel.
But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines,
and threw them into confusion.
And they were routed before Israel.
And the men of Israel went out from Mishpah,
and pursued the Philistines,
and struck them as far as below Beth-kar.
Then Samuel took a stone,
and set it up between Mishpah and Shen,
and called its name Ebenezer.
For he said,
Till now the Lord has helped us.
So the Philistines were subdued,
and did not again enter the territory of Israel.
And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel
were restored to Israel from Ekron to Gath.
And Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines.
There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mishpah.
And he judged Israel in all these places.
Then he would return to Ramah,
for his home was there.
And there also he judged Israel.
And he built there an altar to the Lord.
Amen.
And may God bless that word to us.
We'll again come to God in prayer.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven,
we continue to worship your name
and praise you that you are the God who has spoken to us.
And you continue to speak to us through your word.
We thank you for the way we are reminded there
of how Samuel brought your word to your people so long ago.
A word that they had maybe become disinterested in
or didn't know what to do with.
But yet a word that awoken them from their slumber
and brought them to recognize that they had sinned against you.
And it awoke them to see their need of repentance
and turning to you and the blessings that come from that.
And we pray that as your word is proclaimed today far and wide
throughout our land and throughout the world,
that there will be a word that is powerful to many
to awaken and to bring many people to see
that we have sinned against God,
but yet to see too the mercy that is found in Christ Jesus.
And we pray, Lord, that you will turn us in repentance to you.
For as we confess our sins,
as we have sung together in that wonderful psalm,
that you are the one who is able to forgive our sins.
And so we pray, Lord, that you will help us
to put our hope in the Lord.
So may you bless us together here
and remembering those tuning in online as well
and those who will tune in maybe even in days and weeks coming, Lord.
We pray for your word to be blessed to us
and for you to be in the midst of us as we come
to worship and praise your name.
We thank you that you alone are worthy of our praise,
that we are people just as of old who so often make idols,
who we worship in different ways,
the things that come between us and you so easily.
And just as of old, Lord,
as Samuel warned to put away,
so help us to put away our own idols today,
that we'll be able to worship you aright,
that we'll be able to come seeking, Lord,
that you will redeem us as your people,
that you will rejoice over us as your people,
and that we will delight in you
as the God of our hope,
the God of our salvation.
And we do remember, Lord,
all going on within our congregation
and within our communities at this time as well.
We thank you, Lord,
for the work of the gospel as it goes on.
We thank you that your gospel is powerful
and mighty to save.
We thank you for the way it works in people's lives,
the way it reaches out,
even when we maybe feel that there is nothing happening.
We thank you, Lord,
that you have power over all
through your mighty spirit.
And we pray, Lord,
for a day of your refreshing over us,
a day of your blessing with us, Lord,
as a people,
a day where you would see young and old
coming to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And as we anticipate, Lord,
and look forward to,
God willing,
our communion season,
we pray, Lord,
your blessing on all of us
as we prepare for it
and upon the preachers
as they prepare to minister as well,
not just with ourselves here,
but throughout our town
and indeed throughout our islands
over these coming weeks,
that it will be a time of refreshing
and nourishing of our souls,
a time of building up your people,
a time of people rejoicing
and sinners being saved.
May it be a time of real blessing
as we look forward,
not for our own glory,
but for yours.
Be with us, Lord, in it all.
And may your name be praised.
Remember, too,
the induction taking place,
God willing,
on Friday.
Again, we commit
around all my cloud
to your care at this time.
And we pray, Lord,
for your blessing on him
as his new ministry will begin.
Remember, Reverend Paul Murray,
as he will lead the service
on Friday evening.
Be with him.
Uphold him in his preparation
and on the evening as well.
And may we see many people
coming to rejoice
with those in North Tolstain.
Give thanks for your goodness
in this way
and seeking your blessing
upon the ministry
of your word there.
Remember our islands,
Lord, as a whole.
We know, Lord,
it's been such a sad time
for so many,
so many funerals
taking place
over these last few weeks.
And we just pray
for your comfort.
We pray for your blessing.
We pray for your peace
to be upon us.
It's a peace
that we cannot understand.
It's a peace,
as the word says,
that passes understanding.
But we thank you for it.
And how in times of need,
when you provided,
we are so refreshed
refreshed and encouraged,
even in the sorrow
of our hearts,
that we know
that you are God
and that you are with us.
So we pray, Lord,
that people will be able
to call upon your name
together as a people,
that we will hear
your voice speaking to us,
that there will be a voice
that makes us turn to you
and seek your face.
Remember our land,
O Lord,
we pray as we continue
to pray for our nation
as a whole
and all that goes on
around us.
We hear so much sorrow
and sadness
in so many places.
And as we've heard
so often,
Lord,
that we are
in a day of darkness,
we thank you
for the light
of the gospel
and we pray
that it will shine brightly
throughout our land
and throughout the world,
that your word
will go out
with power
from those leading over us
in positions of power
and authority
right down
through every people
and place of our land
that your voice
will be heard
and that your name
will be praised.
Keep us, O Lord,
looking to you
and help us to pray.
Help us to pray
even in all our doubts
and fears and worries
that we will remember
that you are God
and there is no other.
So hear us now
and continue with us
in our worship of you
and may your name
be praised and glorified
in our midst
and in our hearts.
Hear our prayers
and forgive our sins
as we ask it all
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So again,
sing to God's praise
before we turn back
to look at this passage
in Psalm 138.
Psalm 138.
We sing verse 1
to verse 5.
Thee will I praise
with all my heart.
I will sing praise to Thee
before the gods
and worship will
toward Thy sanctuary.
We'll sing from verse 1
to 5
to God's praise.
And the tune
is mantras.
Amen.
Thee will I face
with all my heart.
I will sing praise to Thee
before the gods
and worship will
to Lord Thy Son
o cop 107.
Lord Thine
and worship шill
Oldalition
divine, O
thy great name above.
Thou didst me
a solid
dirty when
I to thee did
cry.
I've learned
my painting
so will
spread.
Dissent
and inwardly.
All kings
upon
the earth
that I
shall
give thee
praise, O
Lord.
When a
state
groan,
thy heart
shall
hear
thy true
unfaithful
word.
Yea, in the
righteous
ways of
God,
with
madness
they
shall
sing,
for
grace
and
glory
of the
Lord,
will
not
forever
reign.
We can turn back now to a reading in 1 Samuel chapter 7.
We read again at verse 12.
1 Samuel chapter 7 at verse 12.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer.
For he said, till now the Lord has helped us.
We're very familiar living where we do and seeing stones and rocks all around us.
It doesn't matter how often you go through the garden and weed out all the stones.
There seems to be always more that will come back.
And as you go out and about, everywhere you look around yourselves, you see stones and rocks of different shapes and sizes.
But as you look around, there's sometimes particular places where you see stones that stand out for a reason.
It may be a pile of stones placed in the shape of a cairn.
And you wonder to yourself, what does that mean? Why is it there?
It may be as you're passing through villages, you see stones that have been shaped and formed to form a memorial.
Like the war memorials we see throughout our islands.
And you see them and you ask yourself, or maybe you're asked by somebody else,
why are they there and what do they mean?
You also see standing stones and different kinds of stones around the island
that seem to have been placed there maybe a very long time ago.
And people again ask, you know, where do they come from?
What do they mean?
What do they represent?
So we're surrounded by these kinds of things.
And they make us ask questions.
And perhaps that's the very reason why they've been put there in the past.
They're significant for a reason because they bring us back to ask these questions.
What does it mean?
What does it stand for?
And they stand as a reminder to something.
Like war memorials keep reminding us day by day and year by year of the great sacrifices that were made for our freedom.
And very often as you're reading through the Bible, you find the different parts, especially in the Old Testament.
You find times when the people set out piles of stones or certain kinds of stones.
And they placed them there for a reason.
And the reason was that as people would see them, they would ask, what do they mean?
What does that stand for?
And here in Samuel, 1 Samuel chapter 7, we have one of these occasions when a stone is placed there as a marker.
So people, when they ask, what does this stone mean?
We'll have an answer.
Samuel, it says in verse 12, took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shennan and called its name Ebenezer.
For he said, till now the Lord has helped us.
It will be a reminder to the people continually that the Lord has helped them.
And this is the last time you see Samuel mentioned in this book is way back in chapter 3.
When you see Samuel called by God as a young man.
Samuel, it's an amazing story to read through his life story.
How he came to be dedicated to the Lord by his mother.
To serve the Lord all his days.
But in chapter 3, you then jump forward to chapter 7.
Now in chapter 3, it's talking about how the word was blessed through Samuel.
It says in the end of chapter 3, verse 21,
The Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
The word of the Lord was blessed through Samuel.
But in the intervening time, and it seems that a number of years have passed by between chapter 3 and chapter 7,
You think to yourself, well, if they had the word of God, things would have gone well for them.
They would have carried on and been blessed by God.
But that's not what happened.
The Ark of the Covenant was taken away by the Philistines.
The people felt hopeless.
They felt as if almost God had left them.
And there's a sense of dismay and despair.
And what's interesting is when you see at the beginning of chapter 4,
There's two verses in chapter 4 that stand out for us.
Verse 1 says,
The word of Samuel came to all Israel.
There's the end of Samuel speaking.
Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines.
They encamped at Ebenezer.
And the Philistines encamped at Aphek.
And so it goes on, the Philistines conquered them.
But then when you go forward to verse 21 in chapter 4,
And this is after the Ark's been captured.
Eli has passed away, the one who raised Samuel, who looked after him.
His two sons had disobeyed him.
They had been unfaithful towards God and his word.
And one of the sons, Phinehas' wife, gave birth.
And look at what she called the name of the child.
In verse 21,
She named the child Ichabod, saying,
The glory has departed.
It was significant that that's what he was named.
The glory of God had departed.
The Ark of the Covenant had been taken away.
And yet here now we begin to see a turning point.
The glory had departed because the Ark was lost.
But now there was a return.
But even then they didn't know what to do with it.
Now when we think of our own situation today,
And you think of the glory of God that was enjoyed throughout our land.
And the blessings that were enjoyed from God's hand throughout our land.
It's almost like we could say Ichabod today.
The glory of God has departed.
Instead of losing the Ark in battle,
We're almost in danger of giving away the presence of God
And the blessing of God through casting him out of our society.
Casting him away from ourselves as a people.
But in the midst of that, there's still this hope.
And that's the hope that Samuel calls the people of Israel to here in chapter 7.
And the call that we have to ourselves as well.
There's a warning for us here when you come into chapter 7.
And Samuel says in verse 3,
There's a call to return to the Lord.
Because when you see in verse 2 of this chapter,
It says that all Israel lamented after the Lord.
There was a sense of,
I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do with this sorrow.
There's a sense of not knowing how to go about their lives.
They know they've turned against God.
They know they've offended God.
But they don't know where to go with it.
For 20 years, there's been this lamenting.
Until Samuel comes with this word.
And for ourselves today, think of,
Even looking back in your own life, 20 years.
What has been your experience of the Lord through those 20 years?
Have you been lamenting, just like the children of Israel here?
Maybe feeling sorry about the things that you're doing,
But not knowing what to do about it.
Have you been maybe just ignoring God for 20 years?
Or have you known the blessing of God's transforming power in these 20 years?
There's so much that we can look back over in our lives and think,
Can we truly be thankful to God for what He has done for us?
Are we just lamenting or are we truly repenting?
There's a huge difference.
And that's what Samuel comes to call the people to.
And our nation could so easily become a nation that sees stone buildings,
Church buildings throughout our land emptied,
Standing empty in many different parts of our nation.
And people may be passing by and saying,
What do they mean?
What was that place once used for?
Why is it empty now?
And what explanation would we give?
Or would we long to see our nation a place where these places are full
With people coming to seek the Lord?
Well here, Samuel enters the people once again.
And he comes with a word.
And the word is mercy.
The word is mercy.
And that's the word we want to think about together today especially.
The mercy that we see that Samuel speaks of.
And the first thing we notice about this is,
Samuel highlights the need of God's mercy.
The need of God's mercy.
Back in chapter 3 when Samuel appeared,
It was a period of grace for God's people.
It was a period of God's favor upon them.
And Samuel was in the midst with God's word to the people.
And it was blessed.
But they had gone away.
And as someone puts it in one of the commentaries,
He says,
The reappearing of Samuel here in chapter 7
Is a reappearing of fresh grace from God.
The people who have been lost and despondent
And not knowing what to do with the presence of God in their midst,
Samuel comes to give them direction.
Samuel comes to show them their need of God's mercy.
So that's what he says in verse 3.
The people have been lamenting after the Lord,
But not repenting.
And Samuel comes and calls to them and says,
If all the house of Israel,
If you are returning to the Lord your God with all your heart,
Then put away the foreign gods and the asterisk from among you
And direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only.
This is a call to repentance.
It's a turning away from the idols that they have
And turning back to God.
And that's the heart of repentance.
Turning from one thing to another.
The Shorter Catechism puts it like this,
Repentance unto life is a saving grace,
Whereby a sinner,
Out of a true sense of his sin
And apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ,
Doth with grief and hatred
Turn from,
Of his sin,
Turn from it unto God
With full purpose of
And endeavour after new obedience.
It's about turning with hatred of sin,
Turning to God.
And that's the call
That Samuel is giving to the people here.
Turn from your idols,
Turn from your false gods,
And come to God.
Pour out,
Direct your heart
To the Lord
And serve Him only.
And He will deliver you
Out of the hands
Of the Philistines.
Lamenting for 20 years
Is not hating sin
And turning from it.
Repenting
Is turning from sin
And looking to God.
And that's the call
That Samuel's putting out
To the people here.
Confess your sins
Towards God.
And it's not easy.
It's not easy for them.
It's not easy for us.
It's not an easy thing to do.
It doesn't come naturally
To come and bow the knee
Before God.
Because we think we can manage
By ourselves.
But a realization of sin
Is a realization of
Who God is.
And what our sin
Deserves.
And Samuel here
Is calling them
To see the mercy of God
That is on offer.
So the first step
Is so often
As for many people
To acknowledge
Our sin.
To acknowledge
Where we are going wrong.
To acknowledge
That we need help.
There is a man
By the name of
Kenny Sampson.
Some of you
If you're interested
In football
You may be familiar
With him.
He used to play
For England.
He played in the 1986
World Cup.
He used to play
For Arsenal.
But for many years
He was struggling
With an addiction.
An addiction
To alcohol.
And there was
A program on about him
Just a few years ago.
And there were
So many people
Just wanting to help him
Trying to love him
Trying to be there
For him
Trying to show him
That he needed help.
But he just
Wouldn't listen.
And it was such
A sad program.
And at the end of it
The interviewer
Speaking to him
Telling him
You know you've got
Such a beautiful family
You've got so many
Friends around you
You stand
To lose it all
If you don't stop.
And his response was
I won't stop drinking.
It was such a sad picture.
He wouldn't stop.
But just a couple of weeks ago
I was reading about him.
And he's been sober
For two years.
People didn't give up.
People continued
To look out for him
And tried to help him.
And eventually
He acknowledged
He needed help.
And he got the help
He needed.
Now Samuel here
Is addressing a problem.
A problem
Not just like an addiction
Like Kenny Samson had
But a problem
That we all have.
A problem that we all
Have to acknowledge.
That we are all sinners
In need of mercy
From the Lord Jesus Christ.
To put away
The idols.
To put away
The things
That we are addicted to
That keep us
From having a right
Relationship with God
And turning to him
Instead.
So Samuel comes
With this fresh grace
This call
To realize
Their need of mercy
From God.
But then it goes on
And what we see is
Samuel speaks then
Of an experience
Of God's mercy.
And how they experience
God's mercy
In such a wonderful way.
And you see that
In verse 5
Through to verse 11.
Samuel gathers
The people together.
Look at verse 5.
It says
Then Samuel said
Gather all Israel
At Mizpah
And I will pray
To the Lord
For you.
All the people
Recognizing
That they have
Fallen short of God
That they need
God's mercy
They come together
With Samuel
At Mizpah
And he says
I will pray
For you.
And look at the response
Of the people
In verse 6.
So they gathered
At Mizpah
And drew water
And poured it out
Before the Lord
And fasted on that day
And said there
We have sinned
Against the Lord.
There is this
Acknowledgement.
There is this
Realization
We have sinned
Against God.
But Samuel
Comes with a plea
For the people.
He is praying
For them.
And the plea
For help
In the midst
Of the plea
For help
The wonder is
That God
Is there to help.
It's not always
An easy path
As you see
As it goes on here.
And sometimes
It's a path
That leads us
To be afraid
And wonder
Just what way
To go
And what to do.
And you see that
In verse 7.
They acknowledge
They have sinned
Against God.
But
And Samuel
Judged the people
There.
That means he brought
The word of God
To them.
But then in verse 7.
Now when the Philistines
Heard that the people
Of Israel
Had gathered at Mizpah
The lords of the Philistines
Went up against Israel.
And when the people
Of Israel
Heard of it
They were afraid
Of the Philistines.
What's their response
When they hear?
They're afraid.
And so often
When we come
Before God
And acknowledge
Our sin
It leaves us
Afraid.
And another thing
It does
Is just like
When the people
Of Israel
Here gathered
And the Philistines
Heard about it
And they gathered
To come
And fight
Against them again
When we show
An interest
In the things
Of God
When we begin
To realize
And acknowledge
Our sin
And say before God
We have sinned
Against you
There is an enemy
That will attack
As well
The devil
When he sees
Someone interested
In the things
Of God
He will come
And fight
That battle
To take you back
He doesn't want
To lose any
To God
And so the battle
Will go on
And the struggle
Will be real
And it may leave
You a sense
Of fear
Afraid
What am I doing
How can I go on
In my own strength
How can I keep going
I'm not up
For this battle
And that's why
It's so important
To realize
It's so important
The experience
Of God's mercy
That the children
Of Israel
Enjoyed here
They cried
To Samuel
And said
Do not cease
To cry out
To the Lord
Your God
For us
And so Samuel
Continued
To pray
He offered up
A sacrifice
And as he did
What happened
God came
To the people
And you
He showed
Them mercy
The Philistines
Threw near
It says
In verse 10
But the Lord
Thundered
With a mighty
Sound
That day
The Lord
Is greater
The Lord
Is mighty
To save
The Lord
Is on your side
As you put
Your trust
In him
You will
Be afraid
We will all
Be afraid
At times
We will all
Struggle
At times
But to remember
The Lord
Is on our side
The Lord
Is with you
And that is what
The people
Were again
Realizing here
And that is what
We are to realize
For ourselves
As well
The Lord
Revived his people
And the Lord
Revived his protection
Over them
Samuel
They call
To him
To help
Them
We don't
Call
On Samuel
Today
But who do
We call
On
In the midst
Of all
Our doubts
And fears
And anxieties
Of going
Forward
For the Lord
Who do we
Call on
We look
To Jesus
We call
On him
We call
On him
Who gave
Himself
For us
We come
In prayer
To him
And he
Hears
Your prayer
And he
Is able
To thunder
Out
Just like
The Lord
Did here
He is able
To protect
You
He is able
To keep
You
He will
Shield
You
He will
Never
Leave
You
That is
The great
Promise
We will
All have
These doubts
All have
These anxieties
But we can
Take them
To the Lord
In prayer
If you have
Ever read
The book
Pilgrim's
Progress
This will
Be familiar
To you
If you have
Never read
It do
Read it
Because it
Speaks so
Much of
The Christian's
Journey
Of carrying
This great
Weight
Of sin
On our
Back
And the
Way
The journey
Takes so
Many twists
And turns
And there is
One point
In the book
Where John
Bunyan wrote
Speaking of
Christian
And a
Friend he has
With him
Hopeful
And once
Again
They have
Taken a
Deed
Through
Of the
Right
Path
And they have
Ended up
In a
Place
Called
Doubting
Castle
And everything
In this
Book
It just
Relates
To so
Many
Experiences
We have
On the
Christian
Journey
And
Christians
Will have
Doubts
There will
Be times
When we are
Afflicted
With doubts
But what
Do we do
In these
Times
Well
In this
Book
Christian
And hopeful
Are in
Doubting
Castle
And the
Owner of
The castle
Is called
Giant
Despair
And his
Wife
Is a
Scary
Woman
Too
And they're
Locked up
Here
And they're
Suffering
There
They're being
Tortured
There
And then
They turn
To God
In prayer
And as
They're
Praying
Christian
Remembers
That he was
Given a
Key
Before
On this
Journey
And he
Has this
Key in
His
Pocket
And this
Key is
Called
Promise
And what
The key
Does
Is it
Unlocks
Every door
For them
To get
Out of
Doubting
Castle
Back
Onto
The right
Path
Every way
Is opened
Up
And it's
Just a
Reminder
To us
That the
Lord has
Given us
Promise
That he
Will help
Promise
That he
Will be
With us
And so
As we
Go through
Life
As we
Go on
This
Journey
And as
We take
Maybe the
Wrong turns
At different
Places
And as
We suffer
In different
Ways
Take it
To the
Lord
In prayer
And remember
All his
Promises
And so
You have
This
Call
To
Mercy
You have
This
Experience
Of
Mercy
Then thirdly
And finally
We have
This
Remembrance
Of
Mercy
How
Forgetful
We are
As a
People
How often
And how
Easily
We forget
So much
We forget
The Lord's
Marshes
We forget
What the
Lord has
Done for
Us
How he's
Helped
Us
So many
Different
Times
And yet
Here we
See
Samuel
Put a
Reminder
Down
For the
People
He took
A stone
In verse
12
And set
It up
Between
Misbah
And called
His name
Ebenezer
For he
Said
Till now
The Lord
Has
Held
Us
Hither
To
The Lord
Has
Held
Us
What a
Wonderful
Remembrance
They have
Hither
To
The Lord
Has
Held
Us
It stands
There before
Them as a
Constant
Reminder
The Lord
Has
Blessed
Us
The Lord
Has
Been
With
Us
The Lord
Has
Been
Faithful
To
Us
Help
Us
To
Be
Faithful
To
Him
When
They
Looked
At
This
Stone
They
Were
Reminded
Of
Two
Things
They
Are
Reminded
Of
The
Way
That
They
Had
Forgot
God
Of
How
They
Disobeyed
God
Going
Back
The
Stone
Is
Called
Ebenezer
You
Go
Back
To
Chapter
4
The
Very
Place
That
They
Disobeyed
God
Was
Called
Ebenezer
So
It's
A
Reminder
To
Them
They
Have
Done
Wrong
Against
God
But
That
Wasn't
The
Only
Reminder
You
See
The
Second
Reminder
Was
That
God
Had
Showed
Marshy
God
Had
Helped
And
So
This
Stone
As
It
Reminded
Them
Of
Their
Weakness
It
Reminded
Of
Them
Strength
God
Hitherto
The
Lord
Has
Helped
Us
For
Ourselves
Today
Do
We
Have
A
Stone
Of
Remembrance
Well we
Sang
In
Psalm
118
And
There
It
Mentions
A
Stone
It
Says
The
Stone
The
Builders
Rejected
Has
Become
The
Cornerstone
And
What
Is
The
Stone
That
Psalm
Is
Speaking
About
It
Reminding
Us
Of
The
Stone
Who
Is
Our
Help
The
Lord
Jesus
Christ
A
Stone
For
His
People
A
Stone
That
Is
A
Rock
That
Nothing
Will
Defeat
Nothing
Will
Put
Down
It
Is
The
Rock
Of
Salvation
The
Lord
Jesus
Christ
So
Why
Are
We
Looking
At
This
Passage
Today
Well
A
Fortnight
From
Now
We
Will
Gather
Just
As
The
People
Here
Were
Reminded
Of
Their
Sin
And
Of
The
Mercy
Of
God
So
We
Will
Be
Reminded
And
Remember
The
Mercy
Of
God
To
Us
As
We
Take
Communion
Together
Maybe
Now
I
Hope
We
Are
All
Thinking
What
Does
That
Mean
For
Me
When
We
Think
Of
The
People
Here
Lamenting
For
Twenty
Years
They
Came
To
The
Point
Where
They
Realized
I
Have
Sinned
Against
God
And
Even
In
All
Their
Fears
And
Worries
They
Were
And
That
Is
The
Great
Reminder
For
Us
At
The
Cross
Too
As
We
See
The
Bread
And
The
Wine
They
Are
Reminders
To
Us
To
Remember
What
The
Lord
Jesus
Christ
Has
Done
For
Us
Because
As
We
Look
To
The
Cross
Just
Like
The
People
Were
Reminded
Of
Their
Sin
Here
And
The
Mercy
Of
God
So
As
We
Look
To
The
Cross
We
Are
Reminded
Of
Our
Sin
That
Put
Our
Savior
There
How
Far
Short
We
Fall
Of
His
Glory
And
What
He
Had
To
Do
For
His
People
To
Bear
Our
Sins
On
The
Cross
It
Reminds
Us
Of
Our
Sin
But
More
Than
That
It
Reminds
Us
Of
The
Mercy
Of
God
That
Whoever
Believes
In
Him
Will
Not
Perish
But
Have
Everlasting
Life
We
Have
A
Remembrance
Ourselves
A
Remembrance
Stone
And
That
Stone
Is
The
Lord
Jesus
Christ
And
If
You
Could
Say
Today
Till
Now
The
Lord
Has
Helped
Us
Till
Now
The
Lord
Has
Helped
Me
Should
You
Not
Be
Coming
With
All
Your
Heart
To
Worship
God
And
To
Do
This
In
Remembrance
Of
Him
To
Show
I
Love
The
Lord
Because
My
Voice
And
Prayers
Heeded
Hear
The
People
Here
They
Were
Given
This
Reminder
A
Constant
Reminder
That
Would
Say
To
Them
Every
Time
They
Saw
It
Till
Now
The
Lord
Has
Helped
Us
And
So
We
Too
Will
Gather
In
Remembrance
Of
What
The
Lord
Has
Done
And
That
We
Will
Be
Able
To
Say
With
All
God's
People
Hitherto
The
Lord
Has
Helped
Me
And
That
We
Would
Acknowledge
That
And
Bow
The
Knee
Before
Him
In
Worship
Not
Lamenting
Not
Just
Feeling
Sorry
For
The
Way
You
Wronged
God
But
Repenting
Knowing
The
Need
Of
His
Mercy
And
Coming
Before
Him
Crying
Out
For
Help
Experiencing
His
Mercy
Experiencing
His
Help
In
Time
Of
Doubts
And
Fears
And
Times
Of
Worry
Times
Of
Need
And
In
All
Of
That
Coming
To
Rejoice
In
Remembering
The
God
Who
Is
Faithful
And
The
One
Who
Has
Done
All
For
Us
May
He
Have
Mercy
On
Us
As
His
People
And
Help
Us
To
Look
To
Him
As
The
Rock
Of
Salvation
And
Put
Our
Trust
In
Him
Let
Us
Pray
Our
Father
In
Heaven
We
Do
Rejoice
In
The
Gospel
And
How
It
Speaks
To
Us
Lord
It
Reminds
Us
Of
Our
Great
Need
For
We
Have
Sinned
And
Fall
Short
Of
The
Glory
Of
God
But
We
Thank
You
To
That
It
Points
Us
Towards
A
Merciful
Saviour
One
Who
Has
Done
All
For
His
People
And
One
Who
We
Can
Call
Upon
In
All
Our
Times
Of
Need
And
So be
With
Us
In
All
Of
These
Things
And
Help
Us
To
Look
To
You
And
Find
Our
Strength
In
You
As
We
Ask
It
In
Jesus
Name
Amen
We'll
conclude
Our
Worship
By
Singing
To
God's
Praise
In
Psalm
54
This
Is
The
Sing
Psalms
Version
On
Page
71
We'll
Sing
From
Verse
4
To
The
End
Of
The
Psalm
Consider
This
God
Is
My
Help
The
Lord
Upholds
My
Way
And
Faithfulness
Destroy
My
Foes
Their
Slander
Lord
Repay
I'll
Sacrifice
I'll
Bring
A
Sacrifice
To
You
A
Free
Will
Offering
Because
Your
Name
O
Lord
Is
Good
Your
Praises
I
Will
Sing
We'll
Sing
From
Verse
4
To
7
To
God's
Praise
The
Tune is
Torwood
God
To
Consider
This
God
Is
My
Hell
The
Lord
The
Bulls
I
May
In
Faithful
Ness
Is
Your
Mindfuls
Their
Slander
Lord
Repay
Come
Bring
A
Sacrifice
To
You
A
Free
Will
Offer
A
Because
Your
Name
O
Lord
Is
Good
Near
Christmas
I
Will
Sing
For
You
O
Lord
I
Rescued
Me
From
My
Distress
And
All
My
Eyes
Have
Looked
In
Victory
Upon
My
True
Health
Lord
After
the
benediction I'll go to the door to my left.
Now may grace, mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon and abide with us all now and forevermore. Amen.
Amen.
Thank you.