Well, thank you so much, Drew and Margo and Gary for leading us thus far.
Friends, if you've got your Bibles, then please turn back to 1 Samuel 15.
This is where we're going to be this evening.
Continuing in our series, looking at the life of, well, I guess Saul and Samuel have been the two big players in what we've seen so far in this book.
And God has so much to teach us tonight about what a life of obedience, loving obedience to him looks like.
So why don't we pray and then we'll get to work in this passage together.
Father, we pray that you would help us now as we turn to your precious word.
We ask that we would know the leading of your spirit, that he would help us see something more of your greatness.
And of the greatness of your son, Jesus Christ, whom we just sang about there, who is at the right hand of the father interceding for us.
What a wonderful, amazing thought that is.
And so we pray tonight would be for his glory and it would be for our upbuilding as your people here.
Father, thank you that you hear us because we pray confidently in Jesus's name.
Amen.
Well, let me begin by asking you a question, a question I want you to keep in your minds as we travel through this chapter tonight.
And here's the question.
What truly delights the God of the universe?
What truly delights the Lord?
Can I suggest at the outset that whoever you are this evening, whatever is going on in your life, whatever is going on in your heart, whatever you think about this God,
that if there is an answer to that question, and what I'm going to suggest is there is an answer to that question embedded in this chapter.
If there is an answer to that question, then it is worthwhile our every thought trying to get to grips with it.
What truly delights the Lord?
Second question.
What did 162,000 people in the UK pay to go and watch last year?
Any takers?
162,000 people go, paid to go and watch last year.
Anybody?
162,000 people paid to go and watch the biggest dog show and competition apparently on earth, which happens annually down in Birmingham, that we know as Crufts.
Anyone's going to see Crufts?
Nope, nobody's paid to go and see that one.
Nope, I haven't either.
Maybe watch a little bit of it in Channel 4.
Watched a little dog jump over a thing.
That's about as far as I got.
But Crufts, now if you're up in your Crufts, you'll know that one of the most sought after titles at Crufts is the Obedience Championship.
That is the one that everybody wants to win, apart from best in show.
That is the one that everybody wants to win.
Indeed, and I googled it this week, okay, I loved googling about Crufts.
One dog lover's website called the Kennel Club.
It said this, to become the Crufts Obedience Champion is the ultimate accolade in obedience.
This is the one that you want to win.
And if you're interested, it was won this year by Dot Watt and her sheepdog Zigdan.
And there they are, looking very happy, and there indeed is proof that every dog has his day.
Now why do I tell you that?
Confession time, I don't even like dogs.
Why do I tell you that?
Because obedience is right at the heart of this chapter tonight.
We've watched this man Saul, the king of Israel, in action over the past few weeks.
And tonight, if you like, we're going to see how he gets on at this whole being obedient to God thing.
Obedience is right at the heart of this chapter tonight.
Remember, this is the whole very thing that God had said in Deuteronomy 17, that his king was to be marked by.
And so to anchor us in tonight, let me just show you how this theme of obedience, it weaves its way all the way through this chapter.
Here's a few of them tonight.
Verse 1, Samuel says to Saul, follow with me.
Listen.
See the words?
Listen now to the message of the Lord.
Verse 11, God says to Samuel,
Saul has not carried out my instructions.
In other words, he didn't listen.
Verse 19, Samuel asks Saul,
Why did you not obey the Lord?
Verse 26, Samuel says to Saul,
You have rejected the word of the Lord.
And finally, verse 22, which I think is the key verse for us tonight to see,
that gets us right to the heart of this chapter.
Samuel says to Saul,
Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
So, what truly delights the God of the universe?
What truly delights this covenant God?
Answer, wholehearted obedience to his word.
You see, the heart is the heart of the challenge that's going to come to us tonight.
The heart is what God is going to go after in each of us this evening as we look at Saul in this chapter.
This God that we're dealing with here, this God is a jealous God.
He's jealous not of, he's jealous for his people.
The Lord is a jealous God, meaning that he wants the whole hearts of his people.
He wants their total devotion.
He wants all of their eyes.
He wants all of their minds.
He wants all of them.
He wants their undivided loyalty.
Because as our creator, not only is he the only one who can satisfy our souls,
but he loves us too much to see our wayward hearts try and satisfy themselves with pretenders that won't satisfy.
You see, this God tonight in this chapter is going to go after our hearts.
He wants the whole hearts of his people.
And in particular, he wants the whole heart of the king of his people.
God's king is supposed to be marked by a resolute, all out.
You have all of me.
You have my whole heart.
You have all of my obedience.
Covenant commitment to Yahweh.
That's my translation of obedience, by the way.
He wants all of him.
Obedience is right at the heart of this chapter tonight.
Right at the heart of the chapter.
So we pick it up at verse 1.
He was Saul.
Now, I think it's not stretching it too far to say about him, as we've tracked him over the last few weeks,
that he's on the downward slide as king.
He's a gifted politician.
We'll give him that.
He's an able fighter.
We'll give him that.
But he's a confused man because his heart is not wholly the Lord's.
Now, if you flick back, God has already pronounced,
back at verse 14 of chapter 13,
that he will take the kingdom from Saul and give it to somebody else.
Why?
Because of Saul's disobedience.
And God has his man in mind for this job.
And what marks out this man?
Well, unlike Saul, he will be a man who will be a man after God's own heart.
And I wonder if you read that.
We kind of...
If you've been in church long enough, you know how the story goes, right?
But if you read that chapter and you hear that, that's thrilling.
That God's king, he's going to appoint somebody who's going to follow him with his whole heart.
See, crucially, that's the kind of king that God wants.
And crucially, that is the kind of king that God's people truly need.
That's the king that we need.
And so in this chapter, we see the Lord, he will finally reject Saul as king.
And so of our question tonight is, what truly delights the Lord?
The author, as it were, in this chapter, he presents it to us here in the negative, if you like.
So in other words, as he shows us Saul in action, he's saying to us,
here is what a life that doesn't please the Lord looks like.
The first thing for us to see, verses 1 to 23, is that the Lord loathes partial compliance.
Pick it up at verse 1.
Samuel goes to Saul with a message.
In the heart of the message, you'll see it at verse 3.
It's right there.
And if truth be told, it's quite shocking, is it not?
Saul has to totally destroy the Amalekites and everything that belongs to them.
And we have to pause there and admit that that is difficult for our modern minds to process.
In fact, many skeptics of the Bible point to this kind of verse,
and they point to it in disgust, as if to say, how could you believe in this God?
I mean, Richard Dawkins, I looked him up this week, for example, says,
episodes like this only go to show that the God of the Old Testament
is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction.
And if we're honest, these kind of verses can embarrass even the most mature of Christians.
So I think it's worth pausing and asking ourselves,
so we can train ourselves how to answer that question,
but also so we can get our hearts around it.
What is going on there?
Well, the Amalekites are the people who attacked Israel after they'd crossed the Red Sea
and they were heading for the Promised Land.
And God had declared in Exodus 17, and apologies, I haven't got this on the screen,
it would have been helpful.
Exodus 17, God says,
So that's Exodus 17.
And here we are many, many, many years later,
God having given these people plenty of time to change their ways,
and have they changed their ways?
Well, it would appear that they haven't.
I mean, if you glance your eye to the end of the chapter and to verse 33,
Samuel says to Agag, the king of the Amalekites,
who's the figurehead of this people, if you like,
as your sword has made woman childless,
here's what he's done,
as your sword has made woman childless,
so will your mother be childless among women.
So these people, as led by this king,
are still marked by a hideous savagery.
They have not learned their lesson.
They have not changed their ways.
As the first readers of this, I'm sure, as they read this,
and they heard that God finally brought judgment on these people
for how they were living,
I'm sure that would have been a massive source of comfort to them,
not of confusion.
So here is God commanding Saul in this one-off act in history
to bring justice to bear upon the Amalekites,
the enemies of his people.
Of course, friends,
any time you read of a judgment of God in history,
it's always pointing us to the final judgment of God
at the end of history.
When every wrong will be put to right,
when accounts will be settled,
and when God will have the final say.
And I think that longing thing really struck me this week
as I read the news.
I don't know if you felt this
when you read about those mothers in Venezuela.
It was on the BBC News.
Forced to give up their children at birth
because so bad is the economic crisis in Venezuela
that they've got very little option
because they don't think they can keep that child alive.
And the reason that that country,
one of the reasons that it is in such economic crisis
is largely down to the economic policies of their president.
And it's trickling all the way down to the poorest of people,
so much so that people are having to make that choice
between keeping my baby or staying alive.
And you read it and you think,
come Lord Jesus.
Come Lord Jesus.
What a glorious thought to think
that one day God will put all wrongs to right.
And the question is,
where will we be as we stand before him?
So that's the command God gives to Saul.
And Saul gathers, if you do the maths here,
he gathers a vast army of some 210,000 men.
That's a big, big army.
The Kenites, one of whom was Moses' father-in-law, Jethro,
they are spared because, the text tells us,
they were kind to Israel on their journey to Canaan.
And here's where we see Saul's partial obedience kick in.
Come with me to verse 7.
King Agag is kept alive.
Now, why?
Why?
We don't know.
The text is silent.
But it may well be that Saul fancies a little political manoeuvre
if he's keeping this king alive.
He's kept him alive, along with the best of.
The best of.
That's the hits we're playing here, right?
The best of.
The sheep, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs.
And just in case we hadn't picked up the hint,
the author lets us know that everything that was weak was destroyed.
But everything that was good was kept.
Everything that was good was kept.
And so we need to ask, where is Saul's heart in all of this?
Where's his heart in all of this?
What's going on in his mind?
Answer, it's not set towards being obedient to the Lord.
It's set towards delighting himself.
And so verse 11, the God who knows all hearts.
Verse 11, God regrets.
Feel the force of that word.
He regrets that he made Saul king.
Not that God is saying that,
oh, he realizes he's made a mistake here.
That's not what's going on.
More that God's heart breaks, it grieves.
As he watches Saul's downward sin slide.
He grieves the fact that Saul's sin has hardened Saul's heart towards the Lord.
And it's interesting, isn't it, to read there,
Samuel's reaction.
What does he do?
Does he rejoice?
No, what does he do?
He cries out.
Now the text, again, is silent as to why he does that.
But is that not interesting as you read that through?
Why is Samuel crying out to the Lord?
Could it be, could it be that something of God's heart,
as God grieves over what sin is doing in this man's heart,
could it be that something of God's heart is showing itself in Samuel?
How does Samuel feel?
Remember Samuel, the man who anointed this king.
Heartbroken, distraught, lamenting over what sin has done.
The chaos that it is caused in someone else's life.
I think that's what's going on here.
And indeed, if you need a proof of where Saul's heart is,
look at verse 12.
What has he been doing this whole time?
Has he been serving?
Has he been sacrificing?
What's he been doing?
He's been setting up a monument in whose honor?
His own.
So he's given himself the Grammy Award for Best Actor
and that whole piece that's just gone.
How self-obsessed is this man at this point?
That he set up a monument in his own honor.
And you see, when Samuel eventually gets to him,
it's not Samuel that gets in the first word, it's Saul.
I carried out the Lord's instructions.
He screams in his face like an excited child
trying to tell their parent what's happened.
I carried out the Lord's instructions.
He's clearly expecting a high five and a fist bump here,
isn't he, from Samuel?
But did you carry out the Lord's instructions, Saul?
Did you carry it out fully?
Or is this a bit like the child who's cleaned their room?
Only for mum to walk in and it becomes clear that we have very different understandings
of what cleaning means.
Because Samuel hears a baba there and a muumuu there.
Do you see it in the text?
Who do you think you are fooling, Saul?
Who do you think you are fooling?
And here's the tragedy, I think, of this text.
I think Saul's convinced himself
that what he's actually doing
is fully obeying the Lord.
You get that impression as you read about him here, don't you?
I mean, he offers an excuse, doesn't he,
that it was his soldiers that spared those things, not him?
That they are the ones responsible, not him?
He couldn't help himself.
He couldn't do anything about it.
Interestingly, Saul's shifting the focus and the blame,
just like Adam did in the Garden of Eden, didn't he?
He shifted the blame.
Didn't take responsibility for it.
He shifted it.
And they did so, he says,
so that they could sacrifice to the Lord.
But I don't think that's the case at all, do you?
And verse 16, Samuel quite says,
Samuel quite simply says, enough.
Enough.
And he reminds Saul of the grace and the favor
that God has shown him.
And simply asks, why?
Why?
Why did you not obey?
But Saul disputes Samuel's claim and he says,
I did obey.
Again, do you see the deceitfulness of sin
that work in this man's heart is totally clouded his judgment.
He thinks that he's done a good thing.
But notice Samuel's stinging lesson,
not just for Saul,
but for anyone who would pick this up in the years to come
and read about Saul's life.
What is it that truly delights the Lord?
Well, here's what doesn't truly delight the Lord.
Verse 22 and 23.
Here's the question.
Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
Here's the lesson.
To obey is better than sacrifice
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
Here's the comparison.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
And here's the summation.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.
Now what's going on there
is that the Lord is saying
that he doesn't want Samuel's stuff.
He doesn't want Saul's stuff
as much as he wants Saul's heart.
There's a difference, isn't there,
between a cold, robotic, distant kind of obedience
and a loving one.
Husbands will know there's a difference
between giving your wife a card on Valentine's Day
because you feel like it's what you should do,
because you think it's what everyone else in the world is doing.
There's a difference between that
and giving a Valentine's Day card
that says this is just a piece of paper,
but behind it is a heart that says,
I have eyes for you and you alone.
There's a difference.
What truly delights the Lord
is a wholehearted, loving obedience
that wants to say,
Father, I love you.
Here is all of me.
Obedience to his word.
Old Testament commentator Dale Ralph Davis
puts it simply like this,
external devotion is no substitute
for internal submission.
It's not a difference.
You see, God is going after the hearts of his people.
He's going after the heart of his king
and he's going after our hearts tonight as well.
Saul is being partially obedient to God's word
and the Lord loathes it.
And the second thing for us to see,
verses 24 to 35,
is that the Lord loathes superficial repentance.
So, this case for the prosecution has been made
and it would appear on the surface
as we read about it here
that Saul offers a hands up,
you've got me,
I'm guilty,
here's the white flag kind of plea,
doesn't it?
Verse 24,
he declares,
I have sinned.
This is what he says.
I gave in to the men,
he says.
And right there we see,
don't we,
that Saul has a real fear of man problem.
He lives for the pleasure,
for the well-dones of man
rather than the well-dones of God.
He's concerned with his reputation.
In his mind,
God is small
and man is big.
And that's where his people pleasing comes from.
That's where all of our people pleasing comes from.
And we have a small view of God
and a high view of man.
Forgive my sin,
he says.
Isn't it interesting that
he asked Samuel to forgive him
rather than realizing that his sin
is first and foremost against the Lord?
But again,
Samuel reiterates
that it's Saul's rejection of the Lord
that's led to the Lord's rejection of Saul.
And the game's up at this point,
isn't it?
And as if things couldn't get any worse for him,
in this act of desperation,
as he grabs and rips Samuel's robe,
Samuel says,
that is but a visible parable for you
about what will happen to you
and your kingdom.
I mean,
when it's not going for you,
it's really not going for you,
isn't it?
And see verse 28.
The Lord,
who never changes,
his cast iron promise,
guarantee,
that he will now move to install
this man,
the man after his own heart,
the better man
as king.
And you have to say,
Saul's reaction to that is very telling.
Really worth noticing this in the text
and we'll maybe slow down just a little bit here.
There appears to be a little hint of repentance,
doesn't there,
in Saul's actions?
But if you look closely at what the text is telling us,
Saul seems to be more concerned with his standing
in the eyes of the elders of his people
than he does on being right with God.
That's really what seems to be going on
in the depths of his heart.
That's really what he seems to be after.
And it shows by what he says to Samuel
at the end of verse 30.
And look at it if you've got it there
because I think it's so important
to what's going on in the text here.
He says to Samuel,
come back with me so that I may worship
my God?
No.
Our God?
No.
Your God.
That is so revealing, isn't it,
of the true state of this man's heart.
Your God.
It's often the case I find in
not just pastoral ministry
but in just life in general,
it's often the case that
the comments that people make
when their guard is down,
the comments that people make
in their everyday conversations with me
is those that give me a little glimpse
into what is really going on in their heart.
And I think this is the real tragedy
in this chapter.
The passion in Saul's heart,
the fire in his belly,
the love for,
the adoration for,
the relationship with and devotion to Yahweh
seems to have well and truly gone out.
In fact, some commentators,
if you read them,
would go as far as to say
if there was ever a fire
in Saul's belly in the first place.
Do you see?
He's just lost his love for the Lord.
Let me ask you in passing,
can you see yourself
in Saul's revealing words here?
Are you here tonight
and you sense that fire in your heart,
not getting stronger,
but growing weaker?
And I've shared this before,
but I think it's so telling
and so insightful
to something like this.
The late Anglican minister
and lecturer John Stott
was once asked
what his biggest fear was
for the students
who came to study under him.
And he always said
that his biggest fear
was that in the eyes of many,
God would move
from being a source of delight
to be enjoyed,
to be being a thing,
to be simply studied.
Friends, I wonder
if that's you tonight.
Can I urge you
to speak to somebody,
to pray to somebody if it is?
Maybe you can think of somebody
in your own life
who you know
this might be the case for.
Can I urge you maybe
to speak to them
and to pray for them
and to ask how you can help them
and to pray that tonight
might be the night
when something changes
in your life.
Think about it.
I mean, what a waste of time
this is on a Sunday.
What a waste of time this is
if we can't really be honest
with one another
about the thing
that matters most in life
and about what's really
going on in our hearts.
Because otherwise,
we're just playing at this.
Just like Saul,
we're just playing at this.
But what a call this is
from our God
to get serious with him
and to come home.
to come home.
We love
because he first loved us.
I remember growing up in church
there was that song
that we used to sing
written by a man,
I think his name was
Brian Dorkskin.
And the chorus,
it was really just a prayer
and it simply went,
don't let my love grow cold.
I'm calling out,
light the fire again.
Don't let my vision die.
I'm calling out,
light the fire again.
It was a prayer
that said,
God,
help,
ignite
by your spirit
the fire in my heart,
the love for you
that exists in me.
It was interesting,
I was sitting around,
sitting in class this week
and one guy piped up
that he was a non-Christian
for years
and he sat in church
a lot of his life
and it was one song
that did it for him
and the Holy Spirit
just moved into his life
and it was a song,
oh,
I've totally forgotten,
I should have written it down.
It was a song,
I'm giving you my all
and I surrender all to you.
That's the one,
I surrender all to you
and he said at that moment,
years of just not
understanding anything
and God just moved in
and broke his heart.
I'm giving you my all,
all that is within.
I lay it all down
for the sake of you,
my king.
I've got it now,
right?
That's the one.
Do you need to stop
and make that your prayer tonight?
Do you need to pray
that God by his spirit
would rekindle that love
that you once had for him?
Do you see Saul's fire
in his belly for the Lord
would appear to have
well and truly gone out
and I'm sure
that that is the core reason
behind his lackadaisical approach
to both his obedience
and his repentance
because it's not real to him
and if Saul won't do it,
Samuel will.
You see at the end
of the chapter
and King Agag
who clearly thinks
verse 32
that he's played
an absolute blinder here
and persuading Saul
to keep him alive
while his luck's just run out
and Samuel puts him to death
and again notice
the bookend thoughts
that drive this little section
repeating the sentiments
of verse 11.
Samuel mourns for Saul
and God regrets
that he made Saul king
because the Lord
loathes partial compliance
and the Lord loathes
superficial repentance.
Obedience,
loving obedience
is right at the heart
of this chapter tonight.
So what truly delights
the Lord?
What truly delights him
according to this chapter?
What does he say?
Loving,
wholehearted
obedience
to his word.
This God
is after the whole hearts
of his people.
He's after the whole hearts
of his king.
And as we read
about Saul here
you have to see
it's a kind of tragic
final nail in the coffin
kind of chapter isn't it?
And this is the point
at which we're going to leave
the book of 1 Samuel
for now
and we're going to have
a little break
for Christmas
and New Year
and we're going to return
to it early next year
because this is quite
a transitional point
in the book.
Because if you glance
your eye to 1 Samuel 16
you'll see
God reveals David
as his new choice
for king.
David who will be
unlike Saul
a man after
God's own heart
and a king
marked by covenant
loyalty to Yahweh.
That's David.
But although David
will be better
to use the word
of this chapter
he will be better.
He won't be perfect.
We'll see him
make mistakes.
We'll see him
make huge mistakes
even bigger than Saul made.
But it seems to me
that David knew
the God he was praying to
and David knew
what real repentance
looks like
where Saul didn't.
But this book
points us well
beyond this king.
It points us
to the king
who would come
and it points us
to the king
friends that we
so desperately need.
Hebrews chapter 5
chapter 5
During the days of
Jesus' life on earth
he, Jesus,
offered up prayers
and petitions
with fervent cries
and tears
to the one
who could save him
from death
and he was heard.
Why?
Because of his
reverent submission.
Son though he was
he learned
what?
Obedience
from what he suffered
and once made perfect
he became the source
of eternal salvation
for all who would
believe in him.
See, Jesus,
this king,
God's king,
he didn't just obey
and offer a sacrifice.
He obeyed to the point
that he became
the sacrifice
for us.
Here is the king
whose life would be marked
by perfect obedience.
Here is the king
who lived the life
that we could not live.
Do you know that?
The depths of sin
in your own heart?
I find the more
I go on as a Christian
I'm more aware
of the sin in my life
than I ever was before
but I am more aware
of how gracious
my God is.
Jesus paid the penalty
on the cross
for my sin
and he takes me
into himself
and he becomes
a source of
eternal salvation
to use those words
for all who would
come to him
and obey him.
Crown him
Lord of all.
The words of John Newton,
slave trader
turned minister,
he's got a wonderful story,
wonderful testimony.
He wrote this,
I didn't realise
how many poems
John Newton wrote
until I discovered
them this week.
Hundreds of poems.
He writes this
about what Jesus Christ
meant to him
the first time
that he understood
the gospel.
Thus,
while his death
my sin displays
in all its blackest hue,
such is the mystery
of grace
it seals my pardon too.
With pleasing grief
and mournful joy
my spirit now
is filled
and get this,
that I should
such a life destroy
yet live by him
I killed.
What incredible grace.
And as we see
in this chapter
the Lord pronounce
over Saul
I regret
that I have made you king.
I wonder if you thought
about the pronouncement
that God the Father
would make over Jesus.
At his baptism
Mark chapter 1
and a voice came
from heaven
you are my son
there's the pronouncement
you are my son
whom I love
with you
I am well pleased.
Again at the transfiguration
Mark 9
then a cloud appeared
and covered them
and a voice came
from the cloud
this is my son
whom I love.
This is my son
whom I love.
And what follows next?
Listen to him.
Friends we are not
made right with God
and pray sin
that this is not the case
because of our
listening and obeying.
Right?
None of us would stand
if that were the case.
We are right with God
because of Christ
and therefore
our heart's response
out of gratitude
and love for him
is to listen
and to obey him.
Paul writes this
in Romans 12.
Therefore I urge you
brothers and sisters
in view of God's mercy
to offer your bodies
as a living sacrifice
holy and pleasing to God.
This is your true
and proper worship.
Now as we finish up tonight
is that not a wonderful thought
that you and I can please
we can delight
the almighty God in heaven
our father
through our everyday
obedience to him.
Our everyday obedience
to him
can bring him pleasure.
Friends that should
change the way
that you and I
approach our days.
That should change
the way that you and I
approach our jobs.
That should change
the way that you and I
use our money.
That should change
the way you and I
have our everyday
conversations
because what is it
that truly delights
the Lord?
wholehearted
loving obedience
to him.
Now we started
thinking about Crufts
as we close
let me just
tell you a story
about another dog
that I was reading
about this week.
I read about them a lot
I really don't like them
but here's another dog.
I didn't realise this
until a couple of years ago
did you know HMV?
It stands for
his master's voice.
I did not know that
until a couple of years ago.
Every day is a school day
right?
I love the story
of Nipper the HMV dog.
The story goes
that when Nipper's owner
Mark died
his brother Francis
inherited three things
Nipper the dog
a gramophone
and the records
of Mark singing
and every time
Francis used to
play the recordings
even though
his master
wasn't physically present
what little Nipper
would do
is that he would
listen
he would hear
and he would just
come and sit
and listen
at the foot
of the gramophone
and that's what he did
that's what he wanted
to be
and friends
as we close up
this evening
let me ask you simply
are you listening
to your master's voice?
Do you know his voice?
Do you know
the leading of his spirit?
Do you rejoice
that you can call him
father?
And does the Lord
have your whole heart?
What is it
that truly delights
the Lord?
Whole hearted
loving
obedience
to him
teach us
Lord
full obedience
holy
reverence
true humility
test our thoughts
and our attitudes
in the radiance
of your purity
cause our faith
to rise
cause our eyes
to see
your majestic
love and authority
words of power
that can never fail
let their truth
prevail
over unbelief
Amen
why don't I pray
and then we'll
stand to sing
our closing song
Heavenly Father
we would worship
you tonight
Father we would
declare that there
is simply none
like you
Father we would
think of the words
of the psalmist
who would declare
who are we
that you are
mindful of us
Oh Heavenly Father
we thank you for
our time together
this evening
and we pray
that you would
help us by your
spirit to be
those who
lovingly
and wholeheartedly
obey you
who are ever
attentive to the
voice of our
saviour Jesus
Christ
who are ever
responding to
the leading of
your spirit
as he leads us
further into
knowledge of
Jesus Christ
but Father we
know our own
hearts
we know our
proneness to
wander
and so Father
we pray that
you would take
and seal our
hearts
and seal them
for your
courts above
Father we
love you
thank you for
this evening
in Jesus name
we pray
Amen