What Truly Delights the Lord?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

Hebrews 5 · chapter mention

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

Mark 1 · chapter mention

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.

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