Moving in the Right Direction- 1st Samuel 7
2024-08-25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJPd-II1xHo

I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. Let's pray. Good morning. We are glad to be able to worship together this morning. In a few minutes, we're going to be in 1 Samuel chapter 7. We've been spending the summer with Samuel, and the first section of Samuel ends in chapter 7, so this is kind of our last sermon in our summer in Samuel. We're going to be starting a series on Jesus' call of his apostles and his call to follow him, starting on the 15th of September. But this morning we're wrapping up Samuel with a life of faithfulness, and so one of the things that's happening in 1 Samuel chapter 7 is God's people are returning to him, and they are worshiping him, and they are repenting of their sins against God.

They are seeing God's providence and his provision and his protection in all of these wonderful and amazing and miraculous ways. So, as we read Scripture, as we sing, as we gather around the table, one of the things we want to do this morning is, like Israel, in 1 Samuel chapter 7, we want to turn our eyes to see God and his strength and his provision and his goodness, whether that's in repentance or in praise or in celebration of the gospel or in opening the word of God. So we're going to pray, and then we're going to stand, and we're going to begin with the 130th Psalm, the first six verses. So if you would, let's pray together. Father in heaven, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for grace. We thank you for the work of your spirit in our lives.

I ask, as we worship together, reading your word and singing, that we would be drawn to see you more clearly, to focus on you more deeply, to repent of those areas where we have been distracted or chased after something else, that you would restore our souls, that you would fill us with joy, and that you would help us to see the good news of the gospel. Be with us this morning, and we pray. If you would, be standing with me as we read from the 130th Psalm. It's a song of both repentance, focusing on God's mercy, and in His grace, and then also how He redeems His people. We'll end our service with that. Let's read from the 130th Psalm. It says this, "Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord. My soul waits, and in his word I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchman for the morning. More than the watchman for the morning." And I like how this section of the psalm ends, where the watchman, having gone through the dark of night, is waiting for that glimpse of hope, that glimpse of light, that glimpse of joy that the danger of night is over and the joy of morning has come. We're going to begin by singing "This is our God," followed by immediately singing "His mercy is more."

Remember those walls that we called sin and shame? They were like prisons that we couldn't escape. But He came, and He died, and He rose. Those walls are rubble now.

Remember those giants we called death and grave? They were like mountains that stood in our way. But He came, and He died, and He rose. Those giants are dead now. This is our God. This is who He is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does. He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. Remember that fear that took our breath away. Faith so weak that we could barely pray. But He heard every word, every whisper. Now those altars in the wilderness tell the story of His faithfulness. Never once did He fail, and He never will. This is our God. This is who He is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does. He saves us. We bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus.

King Jesus. Who poured me out of that pit? He did. He did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus. Who poured me out of that pit? He did. He did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Him. This is our God. This is who He is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does. He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. What love could remember, no wrongs we have done. Our nations all knowing He counts not their sum. Thrown into a sea without bottom of shore.

Our sins they are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord, His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness knew every morn. Our sins they are many, His mercy is more. What patience would wait as we constantly roam. What Father so tender is calling us home. He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor. Our sins they are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord, His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every morn. Our sins they are many, His mercy is more. What riches of kindness He lavished on us. His blood was the payment, His life was the cost. We stood neath a debt we could never afford. Our sins they are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord. His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness new every morn. Our sins they are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord. His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness new every morn. Our sins they are many, His mercy is more. Our sins they are many, His mercy is more.

You are the only one who has come to mind. You are the one who has come to mind. You are the only one who has come to mind. You are the only one who has come to mind. You are the only one who has come to mind. You are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. We are the only one who has come to mind. Celebrating the Gospel through the Lord's Supper, we are going to sing "Turn Your Eyes." Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of the Lord's Supper, we are going to sing.

The love of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Turn your eyes to that little sight where justice and mercy embrace. There, the Son of God gave His life for us, and our measureless death was He brave. Jesus, to You we lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our Christ. We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You.

Turn your eyes to the morning and see Christ lying away. What a glorious dawn, fear of death is gone, for we carry His life in our veins. Jesus, to You we lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our prize. We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. Turn our eyes to You. Turn your eyes to the heavens. Our King will return for His own. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will shout. All glory to Jesus, Lord. Jesus, to You You lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our might. We adore You, behold You, our Savior and our Lord. We hold You, our Savior ever true. Oh, Jesus, we turn our lives to You. Jesus, to You You lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our might. We adore You, behold You.

We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. In Philippians, the second chapter, Paul writes this: "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love and any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." And as Paul makes this call and this instruction to unity in Philippians, the second chapter, if we are honest, when we hear his words, right, this is a big task. If you want a simple example

of how hard it is for us to be unified, just try ordering pizza and asking opinions from a large group of people about what kind of pizza you're going to get. There's a reason why when you go somewhere and there's pizza for a large group, there's pepperoni and there's cheese, right, because nobody can agree on everything that you'd like to eat on that pizza. And that's just a simple illustration of a simple meal, and here Paul is saying nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. In humility, count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others. And if we're honest, this seems a little bit beyond our capability. Maybe not all the time. There are some times where we do well at this, but as a lifestyle and as a way of living, right, this is a struggle.

And so Paul's solution to the Philippians in regard to this massive task of loving each other, being unified with each other, caring for one another, is not to try harder, not to do better, not to stuff your emotions down inside and just put a smile on your face and get along with everybody. His solution is to turn our eyes to Jesus. And it's not just for unity. In fact, this is the answer for all of the Christian life. In our discouragement, Hebrews chapter 12 tells us to look to our author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus, who for the joy set before him, despising the shame, endured the cross and is seated at the right hand. And he'll go on to say, "Consider him who endured such hostility from himself against sinners that you do not grow weary and lose heart."

When we're struggling with forgiveness, the answer that Paul gives in Ephesians is forgive as Christ has forgiven you. For all of the struggles and the challenges of the Christian life, the answer is not me. It's Jesus. And so as Paul speaks to the Philippians in Philippians chapter 2, let's turn our eyes to Jesus with him. He says this, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. But it emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

So at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father." Let's pray. Father, help us to turn our eyes to the good news of the gospel. To your Son, given to stand in our place for our sins, who died for us, who was buried, and who rose again, and who is one day returning in glory. Father, if we come to this table with struggling and discouraged hearts, may we see that Jesus is our strength and our joy. And if we come fighting sin and in repentance, may we see the grace and the mercy that is found in your Son. If we come hopeless, help us to see that there is hope, not just for the future, but of hope and strength in this moment.

May this bread and this cup turn our eyes to the good news. We ask that you bless this bread and this cup. That as we, as a family, partake of this, that you would direct our eyes to Jesus. It's in his name we pray. Amen. If you would, take the bread with me as Jesus shared with his disciples, telling them to do this in remembrance of me. And as Jesus took the cup, and in the Jewish Passover, the cup of redemption, and in being about to redeem his people, he said, "As often as you drink this, do so in remembrance of me." And we eat this bread, and we drink this cup, and we proclaim Jesus until he comes again. We're going to be in 1 Samuel, chapter 7. We're going to be our last sermon in 1 Samuel. I'm going to pray, and then we'll jump into it this morning.

Father in heaven, I thank you for Jesus, and I ask that as we look at your word, as we look at the water and the lamb and the rock and the altar this morning, that you would help us to turn aside from our sin and to put our whole hearts directly to you. That you would help us to move towards you, to live for you, not just to think, but to think and to feel and to act, and always for you. Bring us to faithfulness. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, a bunch of years ago, probably, I think maybe Evelyn was a year and a half old, not quite two yet. I was officiating a wedding about 30 minutes north of Indianapolis, and we had kind of made it a family trip with some of Rachel's cousins on the way there.

So we went down in to the bottom of Ohio and road tripped across with them. And then on the way back, we were going to travel back, kind of stopping for some fun along the way, as much fun as you can have. It was like roadside attraction, like the Amish cheese shop, the 10 million square foot candle warehouse, those kind of places, with her aunt and uncle. And so we were getting ready to leave the hotel, and it was early. Everybody was feeling good. We were joyful. Her aunt and uncle got on the road and said, "We'll meet you at the cheese shop." And so we looked at the map. I looked at the map, and I said, "You know what? I'm in the mood for adventure today. I think that I can get to where I'm going for this first stop without having to use the GPS and without having to go the normally accepted route,

which would be south down the highway to Indianapolis and then on Interstate 70 across. I can do this just with my atlas." And so the first two turns went really, really well. We drove out through this massive wind farm, and windows are down. Right? We're enjoying the day. And then we come to this little town that on the atlas, you know, is just a dot, right? There's no streets. There's no points. There's no directions. And all of a sudden, this little town wasn't quite as little as it looked in my atlas. And so I'm just kind of picking roads at random in the direction that I want to go. Now, unbeknownst to me, Rachel, who is much wiser than I am in a lot of situations, had quietly, and so as not to embarrass me, pulled up the route on her GPS. And so I was like, "Well, I think I'm going to turn right here."

And she would go, "No." And then we'd go a little further, and I'd be like, "Oh, maybe this right." And she'd be like, "Oh, yeah, that looks like a good way to go." And kind of directed me to get back on track. And in 1 Samuel chapter 7, what we find is God's people have gotten all turned around. They've gone the wrong way, and Samuel is bringing them back on track. In fact, listen to what it says in verses 3 and 4. And Samuel said to the house of Israel, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtra 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 Ashtra and serve the Lord only. And I want to zoom in this morning on what Samuel says right there in the middle. Because he starts by saying, "Get rid of all of the sin that's in your life, all of these false gods that you have put away. Remove them, destroy them, set them aside, and no longer chase after them." And we talked last week how repentance is a turning away from all of that sin. But one of the important things that we must realize when it comes to following God is that it's not just about turning away from our sin and setting aside all of our idols. We have to turn to something. It's not just that we have to turn away from all of those distractions and desires

and the brokenness of sin. It's not just that we clean all the sin out of our life, but we have to fill that with something else. In fact, Jesus talks about it as He casts out an evil spirit from a man. And the point Jesus is making is that if your life isn't filled with something, you're going to be in worse trouble. And He talks about how the man hasn't filled his life and so the demon is cast out and he goes and he wanders the waste and he comes back to this life or this house that has not been filled with the goodness of God. And he finds it all clean and swept and put in order like a hotel room that has just been cleaned and set up for the next guest. And so he gets a bunch of his friends who are way worse than he is and moves back in.

And Jesus' point is that it's not enough to simply turn aside and remove the evil and the brokenness or have it removed from your life, that you must be filled with something good. And look at what Samuel says in the middle of this. As he says, "Put away your foreign gods and your ashtra," he says something, "Direct your heart to the Lord." Direct your heart to the Lord. And at the end of these verses, it says, "They served the Lord only." So I want to talk just for a few minutes this morning about how we see our hearts directed to the Lord here in 1 Samuel 7. And the first thing we see, that directing our heart to the Lord means placing Him above everything else. That if we are to turn our heart to the Lord, He must be greater than anything else in our life.

Look at verses 5 and 6. Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you." And 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." And Samuel judged the people at Mizpah. Now this instruction, and this event of gathering at Mizpah, occurs immediately. The people have turned away from the foreign gods, and served only the Lord. After Samuel's instruction, "Turn away. Direct your hearts to the Lord." They have done that. Now they gather, not just as a few people, not as a few families, or a few tribes, but they gather as a nation. And they gather in repentance and commitment. And they're gathering, I think, both individually repenting, but also as a nation, as a group corporately repenting.

And a lot of times we think about repentance as solely the responsibility of the individual, but we see, while that's true, it's also the responsibility of the group to gather and to repent corporately. And now they do something very strange here. It says, "They drew water, and they poured it out before the Lord." And now before we talk a little bit about what that means, let's talk about what is happening. Because our view of water is probably a little bit different than it was in the times of Samuel. So in the modern world, we have water everywhere, right? We've got a bottle of water up here, thanks to Debbie, who every week makes sure that I have a bottle of water, and I'm so thankful because I never would remember it otherwise. We have three cases of water under the table down there. Not knowing that, I bought another case, and it's sitting by the door downstairs.

We can go to the taps. There's one in this room. There's some downstairs. Turn on a faucet, right? There's water. Water for us is something that we almost always take for granted. Now, if I was to drink out of my bottle of water this morning and spill a few drops on the floor, right? Not a big deal. It's going to dry. In fact, even if I spilled the whole bottle of water, right, we'll probably, like, clean up some of the excess, but it's going to dry by itself. And if we're somewhere where the floor is slippery, we might dry it a little more quickly, but we're not going to be angry and upset over spilled water. Now, if somebody came in and intentionally poured out a bottle of water, we might be upset about wasting it or making a mess.

But at the end of the day, what's our thought? Really, it's just, it's just water. Now, think about the ancient world where water wasn't as common, right? We have so many ways to get water, and they did not. And water was far more precious. And in some cases, water was dependent upon the rain and the graciousness of God. So I want to take a little closer of a look at verse 6, keeping in mind that we're sort of flipping about water. God's people would not. So they gathered at Mizpah, and they drew water, and they poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said, "We have sinned against the Lord." Notice it says, "They drew it up." That means this is a well. And the who here is not Samuel coming and drawing up the water. It says they did, meaning the people as a nation.

They're waiting in line, and they're drawing up water. And then what are they doing? They are pouring it out. And so they're not just pouring out this precious, life-giving, life-saving resource. They're also, from our perspective, wasting their labor, right? I've just drawn a bucket of water up out of a well, and when I get it to the top after doing that, you pour it on the ground? I'm going to be upset. I just wasted my work. But here they are. They're not only pouring out the precious, life-giving resource, they're expending their time and energy to draw it up out of the well. And the question is, "Why would these people do this?" Right? It's a puzzle. It's a puzzle for the commentators. They go back and forth with different theories. Because there's not really a biblical precedent for pouring out water. Other things get poured out.

Wine and oil at the drink offering. David in the Psalms will talk about pouring out his heart. But in corporate worship in Israel, this is the only picture in all of Scripture about pouring out water. I think, however, there's two clues. One here, and one in 2 Samuel 23. Remember, Samuel is all one book in the Hebrew Bible. Two books in our Bible. The first clue is this. It says, "And fasted on that day." Alright, so the Israelites are fasting, and fasting just means to abstain from food, sometimes from water. And in the case of the Bible, it's done for a very specific reason. So in the Old Testament, you could fast to seek God's guidance or His protection. You could fast in repentance. You could fast to humble yourself by saying, "God, you're so much greater, and I view you as far more important than water."

One of the things going without food and water did in humbling yourself and in repenting of your sin was saying, "God, you're more wonderful, and you are greater and more sustaining than this food or water." The psalmist says this in Psalm 69, "When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach." He says, "I took and I humbled myself before the Lord." And so by pouring out the water, what they're saying is that God is more important to my life than water. Now, the second clue, I think, to what is happening here is in 2 Samuel, the 23rd chapter. And in 2 Samuel 23, beginning in verse 8, we find a list of David's mighty men. And we would sort of compare them in modern day terms to like special forces soldiers.

As they're talking about these mighty men, it begins with one who begins to fight, and he fights the Philistines. And there's so many of them that everybody else runs away, and this guy will fight until his hand can't let go of the sword, and all the Philistines are dead. And then the army comes back and loots all the stuff that is left behind. And then, what happens? David is in a cave, and I think he's probably feeling a little down in the dumps. He's feeling a little nostalgic, and he thinks back to his hometown of Bethlehem. And he just sort of says longingly, "Man, remember how good the water was at Bethlehem? Remember how good it tasted from that well? What I would give for a drink of the water from the well at Bethlehem?"

And it's not just that this water tastes good and is likely nice and cold and fresh. It's that he remembers those times as a shepherd and singing to God and those times where he didn't have to worry about a Philistine army. The problem is that between him and Bethlehem aren't just the Philistine battle lines, but Bethlehem is literally the garrison of the Philistine army. And three of these dudes, his mighty men, sneak out of the cave. They break through the Philistine encampment. They get water out of this well, and they bring it back to David, risking their lives in this amazing feat of loyalty. Listen to what it says, "And the mighty men, three mighty men, broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew the water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David."

And you would think, David was like, "Man, guys, so thoughtful. It's what I wanted." He didn't want them to go get it. He was just reminiscing. But here's what David says. He would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord and said, "Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives? Therefore, he would not drink it." And then he goes on to say, "These are the things the mighty men did." You see, what is David doing? He's saying that this water is so precious. Because of the lives of the men who risked their lives for it, and the love and the respect they have shown to me. This is too precious. I don't deserve it. It's too wonderful.

And so, by pouring it on the ground, he's giving this precious gift that is precious to him, to God. And when the Israelites gather at Mizpah, they pull water out of the ground. And as an angel, they take that water and they just pour it back onto the ground. What they're saying is this is so precious to us. It's life-giving. It's wonderful. And in pouring out this water, the people of Israel, like David later on, will say, "God is more important. God is more precious. He deserves this water." What the people are saying is, "God is more than my desires and my wants." He is my greatest need. My greatest need in this moment of thirst is not water. It is God in the depths of my soul, filling my being. God is bigger than any desire or any ease or convenience, that He is everything.

It's like the psalmist says in the 73rd Psalm, "Who have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." So that's where Israel is at. God is above everything. So let's talk about us for a minute. As we see Israel's repentance and worship, we're called to consider our own lives. And it is easy for us to treat God simply as a means to an end, right? Like a car gets me where I need to go to do the things that I want to do. And for some of us, and for some Christians, we treat God simply as a means to an end. God, you're going to get me to this place and help me do what I need to do.

But ultimately, it's not about God. It's about us. This is what happens in chapter 4 of 1 Samuel, with the ark. God is not their treasure. He is a means to an end. And here in 1 Samuel 7, they are repenting of that, that God, you are not a means to an end. You're not the vehicle that gets us to where we need to go, but you are the treasure of our soul. That same repentance needs to, not just needs to, must happen in our lives and in our churches. It's also easy to treat our relationship with God as one ingredient in a good life. Alright, there's a lot of ingredients that are good, and sometimes, if you're cooking, you may not have the thing that you want, but you can substitute something else. And it is so easy for us as Christians and as the church to see God as one good thing rather than the good thing.

Yes, we have God and He's good, but I also have this, and I have this, and I have this as well. And what happens is we begin to treat God like Israel did through much of the time in these first seven chapters of Samuel. It's great to have God, but I've got all of these other things as well. God might be nice to have and to help us, but I can do it without Him. Do you know how Israel ultimately sees their need for God? It's by His absence. They experience God's apparent absence. And I say apparent because God's still working, and He was still teaching and raising up Samuel, and He's still at work among His people, but God's people saw the glory depart. That's how chapter 4 ends. Right? God's glory has departed.

Now we understand that idea a little bit because we don't understand things until they're gone either. Don't appreciate how good running water is until there's a water main break down the street. Don't appreciate how nice electricity and air conditioning and lights are until the transformer blows across the road. Israel doesn't really appreciate or see God until he is absent. And my prayer for you that this would not be your reality, right? Treating God as a means to an end or sort of an optional agreement, but rather that today you would evaluate your heart. One of the ways we can do that is ask ourselves, "What is it that if I lost would hurt the worst?" What is it that I treasure the most? And the way to see what we treasure most is ask, "If I lost it, what would hurt the worst?"

Here's the thing. A lot of those things we treasure are not bad, but they are not meant to carry the weight of our soul for eternity. Jesus is greater. He will satisfy more deeply. And those good things he will allow me to hold on to more lightly, and see that they're good gifts of God, and to enjoy them, and to share them, and to steward them. But if he is not ultimate, if he is not first in my heart, those things will crumble under the weight of my desires and my expectations. The first thing we see in this text is that directing our heart to the Lord means placing him above everything. Secondly, directing our heart to the Lord means seeing and trusting in his provision. Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah,

the lords, that's the five rulers of the great cities of the Philistines, went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines, and the people of Israel said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry out to our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines." So Samuel took a nursing 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 drew 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 defeated before Israel." One of the ways the Israelites have put God above everything.

One of the ways that we see that first lesson that God is ultimate is that they have gathered together. It's likely that the Philistines, as the oppressing army and the continually oppressing army of Israel, would have forbidden Israel from gathering together in public. And by gathering together, what the Philistines would have seen is not people gathered to repent before the Lord, but people gathering to rebel and to attack the Philistines. And so by gathering together, they are saying God is greater than our fears of the Philistines, that God is stronger, and He's even more valuable than our lives. This gathering is a dangerous declaration that their dependence is upon God. And what we see first is a lamb that God provides a way to deal with their sin. You see, before the lamb, there is this request, "Don't stop crying out to God for us, that He may save us."

And the question is, "How can unrighteous people approach a holy and righteous God?" Right? This is what Eli says to his sons as he rebukes them for their behavior. And he's rebuking them not because he's worried about consequences, but because people are talking. And he says, "Sons, who can stand before a holy God?" And the answer is, nobody, right? Nobody can stand before a righteous God. The only way to a relationship with God is there must be an atonement, a payment for sin. And our sin is so costly. The price is only satisfied with death. So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered them. And if this seems strange that he took this lamb that was so young, still dependent upon his mother or her mother for nourishment,

it seems strange and it seems unsettling. That's kind of the point of the text. The innocence of the lamb is the point. The lamb, in all its innocence, if you've ever seen a lamb or held a lamb, they're innocent and they're pure. This lamb is receiving the punishment that an unpure, non-innocent, guilty people deserve. This lamb is taking their place. And you have to be hard-hearted not to struggle with this, a little bit, a brand new lamb. And if we see our sin is costly and feel that weight, but it's in this uncomfortable Old Testament sacrifice, that God provides a way for relationship to be restored. And what's interesting is before God meets their physical need of protection from the Philistines, He provides a way for their spiritual needs to be met and addressed. Who can stand before God?

The answer is just as true for us as it's true for Samuel. Nobody can stand before God. And unholy people cannot stand before a righteous God. It's why it's such good news when John the baptizer, proclaiming in the wilderness, looks off in the distance and sees his cousin Jesus approaching, and he says, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." Or in 1 Peter, Peter reminds us of the value and the weight of our salvation. Peter says this, "Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things like silver and gold, but that with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." Their deepest need is dealt with first. God provides. We trust God's provision, and he provides a way to atone for their sin, and he provides for us a lamb, his son.

And we, like they, are covered by the blood of the lamb. The second thing God provides is deliverance. Just listen to what happens. As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack, but the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines, threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. They're not prepared for battle, but God is. And they trust that God provides. Not only does God provide a lamb, and salvation and deliverance, He also restores. Look at verses 13 and 14. It says this: "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, and there was peace between Israel and the Ammonites." So two things we've seen moving into a third is that directing our heart to the Lord means placing Him above everything. Directing our heart to the Lord means seeing and trusting His provision. And third, directing our heart to the Lord means continually and hopefully remembering Him. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, and he said, "Till now the Lord has helped us." And Samuel uses this stone as a monument to God. Ebenezer simply means a stone of help. Look at this stone, he's saying, and remember the help of God. In 1 Samuel chapter 4, there's another battle. It's almost a very similar picture to what's happening in chapter 7.

The Israelites against the Philistines. The difference is the Israelites are challenging the Philistine oppression. They start it. The Israelites are defeated. They say, "What should we do?" And so they bring the ark, not because they put God above everything, or because they've seen and trusted in His provision. They bring the ark, and it struck me this week, they bring the ark almost as if a way to threaten or force God's hand. By saying, by bringing the ark into the camp of God, they're saying, "God, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your ark, would you?" Like the guy going in saying, "You want to buy fire insurance? You really wouldn't want your place to burn down." They bring the ark in saying, "God's going to be with us because He's not going to let anything happen to His ark."

And on that day of the battle, Israel loses thousands, and they lose the ark, and they lose the priests Hophni and Phinehas, and they lose Eli. And that chapter ends with a woman saying, "The glory of God has left Israel." They left everything. Do you know where this battle took place? Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and they encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. Same Ebenezer? We're not sure. And that's not the point of what's being written here. The point is that Israel in chapter 4 and in chapter 7, same situation. Very different responses. Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called the name Ebenezer. He said, "For now, till now, the Lord has helped us." At the first Ebenezer, God is ignored and disrespected.

There is loss and brokenness. And at this new Ebenezer, or maybe the same Ebenezer, but now with a monument, we see transformation. That God helps. There is a fresh start. And the purpose of this Ebenezer, this stone of help, was that God's people would see and remember. In fact, if you've sung old hymns, you know this. "Here I raise my Ebenezer." A hopeful remembrance. Not just what God has done in the past, but looking at this stone and saying, "This is what God can do in the future." It's not just about looking back. It's looking forward. It's a hopeful remembrance. These words sound familiar to you, right? "Through many dangers, toils and snares." "I have already come." "Twas grace that brought me safe thus far." Remember how it ends? "And grace will bring me home."

Several years ago, I think everybody knows, I had a kidney transplant. At the beginning, it was chaos, and there was rushing. A lot of pre-op, and a lot of waiting, and then they bring me down to the room right before I go into the transplant, stuff me in a corner, and it was dark and I didn't have a phone to distract me from all the thoughts that are going through my head. Nobody's there just waiting. Don't know what's happening. And I don't know that I've shared this before, but it was dark and it was quiet. There's no phone, no TV, not even any nurses or techs to distract every 10 minutes. They come, "You doing okay?" "We're working on everything. We'll get you there eventually." And the only thought that I could think during that, as I'm nervous and uncertain,

is that grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace would bring me home. I'm not a tattoo guy. I don't care if you are. If I had to get one thing, it would be that, that grace will bring me home. And for me, whether that was back to Winchester or to be with Jesus, right, grace has brought me to this point and it'll take me home. Right, that's the picture of the Ebenezer, the stone, to look back and say, "Look, God's grace has brought me through all the toils and trials and snares, and I've already come from them. And grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will bring me home." There's an Ebenezer, a stone of hell, and his name is Jesus. So the first thing we see is directing our hearts to the Lord means putting Him above everything.

Directing our hearts to the Lord means seeing and trusting His provision. Directing our hearts to the Lord means continually and hopefully remembering Him. And then we see that directing our hearts to the Lord means living faithfully all the days of our lives. These last verses of this chapter read like this: Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, to Gilgal, to Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there. And there he also judged Israel. And he built an altar to the Lord. Samuel's legacy is this. Moses and Aaron, this is from the 99th Psalm. Moses and Aaron were among his priests. Samuel was among those who called upon his name. They called to the Lord, and he answered them.

There are moments in our life that are big and exciting. There are the moments of Israel at Mizpah, where they put God above everything, pouring water onto the ground. You're greater to us than our very survival, where they see and turn their hearts to God's provision, and they turn their hearts to the hope that they have seen in God in the past, and the promises of the future, and they raise the Ebenezer, the stone of help, but then they go home. And it's quiet, and faithfulness, and putting God and directing our hearts toward him doesn't just happen in those big, exciting moments. It happens when we go home. And look at what Samuel does. He faithfully proclaims and prays for the people, and teaches the people throughout the land from city to city, and then back home faithfully serving God.

And it's publicly out here as he journeys, but also if you look at his home, he builds an altar to worship God at home. How do you find Samuel's home? He's the guy who built an altar in the front yard or the back yard. He's known because he has an altar. Right? Mizpah, this moment is big and amazing, and it's powerful and it's life-changing, but faithfulness doesn't just happen there. It happens in the everyday moments and those journeys back and forth and those quiet moments at home. And Samuel isn't perfect, and as he gets older, he tries to get his sons to take over and they're unrighteous. And even that moment reminds us that faithfulness is not just in this moment. It's in every moment that goes before us. You see, when we direct our hearts to the Lord, one of the things we're going to do is we're going to see he's our treasure.

He's greater than anything, that he is the one who provides, and we trust in his provision, that we continually and hopefully look to him. And it means living faithfully all the days of his life, all the days of our lives. Not by our strength and not by our power, but by the goodness and the grace of God. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this chapter. Direct our hearts to you. We would pour out those things that we hold above you, and we would hold you in the place above all things. That we would trust your provision, even when it seems that the enemy is too big and too strong. That we would not turn to our own plans, but to you. And that when, you protect, and when you save, and when you help, that we would erect those stones in our lives to your goodness and to your strength.

And that by your grace and for your glory, may we live faithfully for you all the days of our life. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand, and we are going to sing "This is Amazing Grace." Who breaks the power of sin and darkness, whose love is mighty and so much stronger, the King of glory, the King above all kings. Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder, who leaves us breathless in awe and wonder, the King of glory, the King above all kings. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bend my cross. You would lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. Who brings our chaos back into order? Who makes the orphan a son and daughter? The King of glory. The King above all kings.

Who rules the nations with truth and justice? Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance. The King of glory. The King above all kings. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. Worthy is the Lamb we're slain. Worthy is the King who conquered the grave. Worthy is the Lamb we're slain. Worthy is the King who conquered the grave. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray, Lord. Let's pray, Lord. Let's pray, Lord. Let's pray, Lord. Amen. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. Let's pray.