The Stone of Remembrance

We'll begin our worship now by singing to God's praise. We're singing in Psalm 118 at verse 20.

Psalm 118 at verse 20, the tune is Warwick. Psalm we're so familiar with maybe at communion times

when we sing it. This is the gate of God by it, the just shall enter in. Thee will I praise,

for thou me heardst and hast my safety been. We'll sing from verse 20 down to the end of the psalm

to God's praise.

Amen.

Thee will I praise, for thou me heardst and hast my safety be.

That stone is made at cornerstone, which shinders in his eyes.

This is the doing of the Lord, and what has in our eyes.

This is the day, O made in it, will joy triumphantly.

Sing now, I pray thee, Lord, I pray, send thou prosperity.

Blessed is he in God's great name, that command us to save.

We from blood, which to the Lord, work day to bless it, are.

And what is the Lord due unto us, and make light to our eyes?

I pray thee unto thee, O Lord, work day to our hearts, with course the sacrifice.

Thy heart, my God, I'll be exiled.

My Lord, I will be praised.

Give thanks to God, for he is good.

His mercy lasts always.

Let's come to God in prayer.

Let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, as we come to worship you, we thank you for the promise that you delight to hear our singing of praise.

You delight to hear your people offering a prayer to you, and you delight in worship.

And we pray, Lord, that we would delight in coming to you as well.

That we would rejoice that you are a God who hears and listens to all our prayers, from the youngest to the oldest here.

That you hear what we offer up to you in all our worship.

And we thank you that even as we come in prayer, it doesn't have to be with big words or long prayers.

But we can just come offering up just words of thanks to you, words asking for help from you, words asking for help for others.

And so much of our prayer, Lord, is that you will do us good.

That you will help us to know Jesus and the joy that he gives.

That you will help this world in which we live to know how precious a saviour you are

and the hope that you are able to give in the midst of all that goes on.

We thank you that the light of your word, your truth, shines in around us and even through us.

And so we pray, Lord, your blessing on us today.

Upon all that we hear and all that we do, may you be with us and guide us and keep us.

We pray especially for our young ones as they will go out shortly to the Sunday school, the creche and the tweenies.

We pray your blessing on them.

Encourage them together around your word as well and all of us together.

So hear all our prayers and accept our worship of you this day and pardon our sins as we ask it all in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, it's good to see you today and see so many young ones here today scattered all over.

Sometimes it's hard to find where you are because everyone's sitting in different places.

Well, it's good to see you and I want to ask you a question this morning.

Does anybody here have a pet at home?

Put your hand up if you've got a pet at home, yeah?

A few hands going up around the place.

All right.

Quite a few people have pets, yeah?

Maybe we have pets, different kinds of pets.

Anybody got a pet snake?

No?

Thank goodness, isn't it?

No, you wouldn't want a pet snake, would you?

Some people do, though.

Most people, maybe you have a dog or a cat or a hamster or something like that.

And when you get a pet, what's one of the first things you do?

When you maybe get a pet dog, what's the first thing you do?

Do you just call it dog or doggy?

No, you called a name, don't you?

Very often you give a pet a name.

So when your pet hears you calling that name, it might come running back to you.

Especially for dogs.

We've got a dog, he's called Benji.

And so if you shout Benji, you hope that he's going to come running back to you.

Now, maybe this seems like a strange question.

Does anybody have a pet stone?

It's not a pet, is it?

You don't have a stone that's a pet, do you?

Does anybody have a pet stone?

No?

It seems quite strange maybe to the idea of having a pet stone.

But perhaps you've got stones at home.

Maybe you've been to the beach one day.

Do you like collecting stones at the beach?

Maybe you see a nice colored stone and you take it home with you.

Maybe you've been out walking on the moor and you see another kind of stone lying there

and you think to yourself, that would be pretty at home.

So you take it home with you.

And sometimes people can collect a lot of stones in different places.

But do you ever give a stone a name?

Maybe not.

But in our Bible story today we're going to be looking at, we're going to be thinking about

someone who gave a stone a special name.

A man called Samuel had this special big stone that he called Ebenezer.

That's a funny name, isn't it?

Ebenezer.

Now, why do you think he called the stone Ebenezer?

Seems a funny name to us, doesn't it?

But to Samuel and to God's people it meant something really special.

They weren't calling this stone Ebenezer so that the stone would hear them.

They were calling this stone Ebenezer because it reminded them of something special.

Because the name Ebenezer means, till now God has helped.

And what they were doing was they had this stone that they would look to and they would

see it and it would remind them.

Just like maybe a stone would remind you of a beach you've been to or something like that.

This stone reminded the people of what God had done for them.

And they were able to say, till now the Lord has helped us.

So they weren't calling the stone a name as a pet.

They weren't calling the stone so they could shout to the stone Ebenezer.

They were calling it Ebenezer so they would remind them to call on someone else.

To call on God.

And to call on God giving thanks to him and rejoicing in him that he is the one who is

able to help.

And today we don't have a stone called Ebenezer.

We have another stone described in the Bible as a stone, a rock.

He's the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we are able to call on him for help.

And to say that even till now he has helped us and he always will as we put our trust

in him.

So we think of the Ebenezer stone today.

The stone that reminds us that till now the Lord has helped us.

Well, we'll say the Lord's prayer together.

Now let's pray.

Amen.

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, we'll sing again to God's praise this time in Psalm 130 in the Scottish Psalter.

Psalm 130.

We're going to sing the whole of this psalm.

The tune is martyrdom.

And this is a psalm that reminds us, just as we were saying there, that we can call on

the Lord and that he hears us and is able to help us.

Lord, from the depths to thee I cried.

My voice, Lord, do thou hear.

And to my supplication's voice give an attentive ear.

We'll sing the whole of this psalm to God's praise.

Lord, from the depths to thee I cried.

My voice, Lord, do thou hear.

And to my supplication's voice give an attentive ear.

Lord, you shall sigh if thou, O Lord, should smart iniquity.

But yet with thee forgive me.

Forbiveness is the fear of the mayest need.

I wait for God, my soul of grace.

My hope is in his word.

Lord, I may not for more remorse.

My soul of grace.

My soul of grace.

My soul of grace.

For the Lord.

I say, Lord, I may not for more remorse.

My soul of grace.

For the Lord.

I say, Lord, I may not for more remorse.

For the Lord.

I may not for more remorse.

Let Israel open the door, for with him ask his feet.

And then Jesus' rejection, his severed heart, with him,

And from all his liberties, he Israel shall redeem.

Amen.

And so they decided eventually to return the ark back to God's people.

But even as it came back to God's people, as it returned to Israel, as you see in chapter 6,

the people of God didn't really know what to do with it either.

They had lost their focus of it.

They rejoiced in its return, but they didn't really know what to do with it.

And it was almost left for this period of time.

But then Samuel comes onto the scene in chapter 7.

And that's what we're going to focus on this morning.

But we'll take up our reading at verse 20 of chapter 6.

Then the men of Beth Shemesh said,

So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-Jerim, saying,

The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord.

Come down and take it up to you.

And the men of Kiriath-Jerim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill.

And they consecrated his son, Eliezer, to have charge of the ark of the Lord.

From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-Jerim, a long time passed, some twenty years.

And all of the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

And Samuel said to all the house of Israel,

If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart,

then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreth from among you,

and direct your heart to the Lord, and serve him only.

And he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreth,

and they served the Lord only.

Then Samuel said,

Gather all Israel at Mishpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.

So they gathered at Mishpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord,

and fasted on that day and said there,

We have sinned against the Lord.

And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mishpah.

Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mishpah,

the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel.

And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

And the people of Israel said to Samuel,

Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us,

that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.

So Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord.

And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel,

and the Lord answered him.

As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering,

the Philistines threw near to attack Israel.

But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines,

and threw them into confusion.

And they were routed before Israel.

And the men of Israel went out from Mishpah,

and pursued the Philistines,

and struck them as far as below Beth-kar.

Then Samuel took a stone,

and set it up between Mishpah and Shen,

and called its name Ebenezer.

For he said,

Till now the Lord has helped us.

So the Philistines were subdued,

and did not again enter the territory of Israel.

And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel

were restored to Israel from Ekron to Gath.

And Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines.

There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mishpah.

And he judged Israel in all these places.

Then he would return to Ramah,

for his home was there.

And there also he judged Israel.

And he built there an altar to the Lord.

Amen.

And may God bless that word to us.

We'll again come to God in prayer.

Let us pray.

Our Father in heaven,

we continue to worship your name

and praise you that you are the God who has spoken to us.

And you continue to speak to us through your word.

We thank you for the way we are reminded there

of how Samuel brought your word to your people so long ago.

A word that they had maybe become disinterested in

or didn't know what to do with.

But yet a word that awoken them from their slumber

and brought them to recognize that they had sinned against you.

And it awoke them to see their need of repentance

and turning to you and the blessings that come from that.

And we pray that as your word is proclaimed today far and wide

throughout our land and throughout the world,

that there will be a word that is powerful to many

to awaken and to bring many people to see

that we have sinned against God,

but yet to see too the mercy that is found in Christ Jesus.

And we pray, Lord, that you will turn us in repentance to you.

For as we confess our sins,

as we have sung together in that wonderful psalm,

that you are the one who is able to forgive our sins.

And so we pray, Lord, that you will help us

to put our hope in the Lord.

So may you bless us together here

and remembering those tuning in online as well

and those who will tune in maybe even in days and weeks coming, Lord.

We pray for your word to be blessed to us

and for you to be in the midst of us as we come

to worship and praise your name.

We thank you that you alone are worthy of our praise,

that we are people just as of old who so often make idols,

who we worship in different ways,

the things that come between us and you so easily.

And just as of old, Lord,

as Samuel warned to put away,

so help us to put away our own idols today,

that we'll be able to worship you aright,

that we'll be able to come seeking, Lord,

that you will redeem us as your people,

that you will rejoice over us as your people,

and that we will delight in you

as the God of our hope,

the God of our salvation.

And we do remember, Lord,

all going on within our congregation

and within our communities at this time as well.

We thank you, Lord,

for the work of the gospel as it goes on.

We thank you that your gospel is powerful

and mighty to save.

We thank you for the way it works in people's lives,

the way it reaches out,

even when we maybe feel that there is nothing happening.

We thank you, Lord,

that you have power over all

through your mighty spirit.

And we pray, Lord,

for a day of your refreshing over us,

a day of your blessing with us, Lord,

as a people,

a day where you would see young and old

coming to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And as we anticipate, Lord,

and look forward to,

God willing,

our communion season,

we pray, Lord,

your blessing on all of us

as we prepare for it

and upon the preachers

as they prepare to minister as well,

not just with ourselves here,

but throughout our town

and indeed throughout our islands

over these coming weeks,

that it will be a time of refreshing

and nourishing of our souls,

a time of building up your people,

a time of people rejoicing

and sinners being saved.

May it be a time of real blessing

as we look forward,

not for our own glory,

but for yours.

Be with us, Lord, in it all.

And may your name be praised.

Remember, too,

the induction taking place,

God willing,

on Friday.

Again, we commit

around all my cloud

to your care at this time.

And we pray, Lord,

for your blessing on him

as his new ministry will begin.

Remember, Reverend Paul Murray,

as he will lead the service

on Friday evening.

Be with him.

Uphold him in his preparation

and on the evening as well.

And may we see many people

coming to rejoice

with those in North Tolstain.

Give thanks for your goodness

in this way

and seeking your blessing

upon the ministry

of your word there.

Remember our islands,

Lord, as a whole.

We know, Lord,

it's been such a sad time

for so many,

so many funerals

taking place

over these last few weeks.

And we just pray

for your comfort.

We pray for your blessing.

We pray for your peace

to be upon us.

It's a peace

that we cannot understand.

It's a peace,

as the word says,

that passes understanding.

But we thank you for it.

And how in times of need,

when you provided,

we are so refreshed

refreshed and encouraged,

even in the sorrow

of our hearts,

that we know

that you are God

and that you are with us.

So we pray, Lord,

that people will be able

to call upon your name

together as a people,

that we will hear

your voice speaking to us,

that there will be a voice

that makes us turn to you

and seek your face.

Remember our land,

O Lord,

we pray as we continue

to pray for our nation

as a whole

and all that goes on

around us.

We hear so much sorrow

and sadness

in so many places.

And as we've heard

so often,

Lord,

that we are

in a day of darkness,

we thank you

for the light

of the gospel

and we pray

that it will shine brightly

throughout our land

and throughout the world,

that your word

will go out

with power

from those leading over us

in positions of power

and authority

right down

through every people

and place of our land

that your voice

will be heard

and that your name

will be praised.

Keep us, O Lord,

looking to you

and help us to pray.

Help us to pray

even in all our doubts

and fears and worries

that we will remember

that you are God

and there is no other.

So hear us now

and continue with us

in our worship of you

and may your name

be praised and glorified

in our midst

and in our hearts.

Hear our prayers

and forgive our sins

as we ask it all

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So again,

sing to God's praise

before we turn back

to look at this passage

in Psalm 138.

Psalm 138.

We sing verse 1

to verse 5.

Thee will I praise

with all my heart.

I will sing praise to Thee

before the gods

and worship will

toward Thy sanctuary.

We'll sing from verse 1

to 5

to God's praise.

And the tune

is mantras.

Amen.

Thee will I face

with all my heart.

I will sing praise to Thee

before the gods

and worship will

to Lord Thy Son

o cop 107.

Lord Thine

and worship шill

Oldalition

divine, O

thy great name above.

Thou didst me

a solid

dirty when

I to thee did

cry.

I've learned

my painting

so will

spread.

Dissent

and inwardly.

All kings

upon

the earth

that I

shall

give thee

praise, O

Lord.

When a

state

groan,

thy heart

shall

hear

thy true

unfaithful

word.

Yea, in the

righteous

ways of

God,

with

madness

they

shall

sing,

for

grace

and

glory

of the

Lord,

will

not

forever

reign.

We can turn back now to a reading in 1 Samuel chapter 7.

1 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

We read again at verse 12.

1 Samuel chapter 7 at verse 12.

1 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer.

For he said, till now the Lord has helped us.

We're very familiar living where we do and seeing stones and rocks all around us.

It doesn't matter how often you go through the garden and weed out all the stones.

There seems to be always more that will come back.

And as you go out and about, everywhere you look around yourselves, you see stones and rocks of different shapes and sizes.

But as you look around, there's sometimes particular places where you see stones that stand out for a reason.

It may be a pile of stones placed in the shape of a cairn.

And you wonder to yourself, what does that mean? Why is it there?

It may be as you're passing through villages, you see stones that have been shaped and formed to form a memorial.

Like the war memorials we see throughout our islands.

And you see them and you ask yourself, or maybe you're asked by somebody else,

why are they there and what do they mean?

You also see standing stones and different kinds of stones around the island

that seem to have been placed there maybe a very long time ago.

And people again ask, you know, where do they come from?

What do they mean?

What do they represent?

So we're surrounded by these kinds of things.

And they make us ask questions.

And perhaps that's the very reason why they've been put there in the past.

They're significant for a reason because they bring us back to ask these questions.

What does it mean?

What does it stand for?

And they stand as a reminder to something.

Like war memorials keep reminding us day by day and year by year of the great sacrifices that were made for our freedom.

And very often as you're reading through the Bible, you find the different parts, especially in the Old Testament.

You find times when the people set out piles of stones or certain kinds of stones.

And they placed them there for a reason.

And the reason was that as people would see them, they would ask, what do they mean?

What does that stand for?

And here in Samuel, 1 Samuel chapter 7, we have one of these occasions when a stone is placed there as a marker.

1 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

So people, when they ask, what does this stone mean?

We'll have an answer.

Samuel, it says in verse 12, took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shennan and called its name Ebenezer.

For he said, till now the Lord has helped us.

It will be a reminder to the people continually that the Lord has helped them.

And this is the last time you see Samuel mentioned in this book is way back in chapter 3.

When you see Samuel called by God as a young man.

Samuel, it's an amazing story to read through his life story.

How he came to be dedicated to the Lord by his mother.

To serve the Lord all his days.

But in chapter 3, you then jump forward to chapter 7.

Now in chapter 3, it's talking about how the word was blessed through Samuel.

It says in the end of chapter 3, verse 21,

The Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

The word of the Lord was blessed through Samuel.

But in the intervening time, and it seems that a number of years have passed by between chapter 3 and chapter 7,

You think to yourself, well, if they had the word of God, things would have gone well for them.

They would have carried on and been blessed by God.

But that's not what happened.

The Ark of the Covenant was taken away by the Philistines.

The people felt hopeless.

They felt as if almost God had left them.

And there's a sense of dismay and despair.

And what's interesting is when you see at the beginning of chapter 4,

There's two verses in chapter 4 that stand out for us.

Verse 1 says,

The word of Samuel came to all Israel.

There's the end of Samuel speaking.

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines.

They encamped at Ebenezer.

And the Philistines encamped at Aphek.

And so it goes on, the Philistines conquered them.

But then when you go forward to verse 21 in chapter 4,

And this is after the Ark's been captured.

Eli has passed away, the one who raised Samuel, who looked after him.

His two sons had disobeyed him.

They had been unfaithful towards God and his word.

And one of the sons, Phinehas' wife, gave birth.

And look at what she called the name of the child.

In verse 21,

She named the child Ichabod, saying,

The glory has departed.

It was significant that that's what he was named.

The glory of God had departed.

The Ark of the Covenant had been taken away.

And yet here now we begin to see a turning point.

The glory had departed because the Ark was lost.

But now there was a return.

But even then they didn't know what to do with it.

Now when we think of our own situation today,

And you think of the glory of God that was enjoyed throughout our land.

And the blessings that were enjoyed from God's hand throughout our land.

It's almost like we could say Ichabod today.

The glory of God has departed.

Instead of losing the Ark in battle,

We're almost in danger of giving away the presence of God

And the blessing of God through casting him out of our society.

Casting him away from ourselves as a people.

But in the midst of that, there's still this hope.

And that's the hope that Samuel calls the people of Israel to here in chapter 7.

And the call that we have to ourselves as well.

There's a warning for us here when you come into chapter 7.

And Samuel says in verse 3,

There's a call to return to the Lord.

Because when you see in verse 2 of this chapter,

It says that all Israel lamented after the Lord.

There was a sense of,

I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do with this sorrow.

There's a sense of not knowing how to go about their lives.

They know they've turned against God.

They know they've offended God.

But they don't know where to go with it.

For 20 years, there's been this lamenting.

Until Samuel comes with this word.

And for ourselves today, think of,

Even looking back in your own life, 20 years.

What has been your experience of the Lord through those 20 years?

Have you been lamenting, just like the children of Israel here?

Maybe feeling sorry about the things that you're doing,

But not knowing what to do about it.

Have you been maybe just ignoring God for 20 years?

Or have you known the blessing of God's transforming power in these 20 years?

There's so much that we can look back over in our lives and think,

Can we truly be thankful to God for what He has done for us?

Are we just lamenting or are we truly repenting?

There's a huge difference.

And that's what Samuel comes to call the people to.

And our nation could so easily become a nation that sees stone buildings,

Church buildings throughout our land emptied,

Standing empty in many different parts of our nation.

And people may be passing by and saying,

What do they mean?

What was that place once used for?

Why is it empty now?

And what explanation would we give?

Or would we long to see our nation a place where these places are full

With people coming to seek the Lord?

Well here, Samuel enters the people once again.

And he comes with a word.

And the word is mercy.

The word is mercy.

And that's the word we want to think about together today especially.

The mercy that we see that Samuel speaks of.

And the first thing we notice about this is,

Samuel highlights the need of God's mercy.

The need of God's mercy.

Back in chapter 3 when Samuel appeared,

It was a period of grace for God's people.

It was a period of God's favor upon them.

And Samuel was in the midst with God's word to the people.

And it was blessed.

But they had gone away.

And as someone puts it in one of the commentaries,

He says,

The reappearing of Samuel here in chapter 7

Is a reappearing of fresh grace from God.

The people who have been lost and despondent

And not knowing what to do with the presence of God in their midst,

Samuel comes to give them direction.

Samuel comes to show them their need of God's mercy.

So that's what he says in verse 3.

The people have been lamenting after the Lord,

But not repenting.

And Samuel comes and calls to them and says,

If all the house of Israel,

If you are returning to the Lord your God with all your heart,

Then put away the foreign gods and the asterisk from among you

And direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only.

This is a call to repentance.

It's a turning away from the idols that they have

And turning back to God.

And that's the heart of repentance.

Turning from one thing to another.

The Shorter Catechism puts it like this,

Repentance unto life is a saving grace,

Whereby a sinner,

Out of a true sense of his sin

And apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ,

Doth with grief and hatred

Turn from,

Of his sin,

Turn from it unto God

With full purpose of

And endeavour after new obedience.

It's about turning with hatred of sin,

Turning to God.

And that's the call

That Samuel is giving to the people here.

Turn from your idols,

Turn from your false gods,

And come to God.

Pour out,

Direct your heart

To the Lord

And serve Him only.

And He will deliver you

Out of the hands

Of the Philistines.

Lamenting for 20 years

Is not hating sin

And turning from it.

Repenting

Is turning from sin

And looking to God.

And that's the call

That Samuel's putting out

To the people here.

Confess your sins

Towards God.

And it's not easy.

It's not easy for them.

It's not easy for us.

It's not an easy thing to do.

It doesn't come naturally

To come and bow the knee

Before God.

Because we think we can manage

By ourselves.

But a realization of sin

Is a realization of

Who God is.

And what our sin

Deserves.

And Samuel here

Is calling them

To see the mercy of God

That is on offer.

So the first step

Is so often

As for many people

To acknowledge

Our sin.

To acknowledge

Where we are going wrong.

To acknowledge

That we need help.

There is a man

By the name of

Kenny Sampson.

Some of you

If you're interested

In football

You may be familiar

With him.

He used to play

For England.

He played in the 1986

World Cup.

He used to play

For Arsenal.

But for many years

He was struggling

With an addiction.

An addiction

To alcohol.

And there was

A program on about him

Just a few years ago.

And there were

So many people

Just wanting to help him

Trying to love him

Trying to be there

For him

Trying to show him

That he needed help.

But he just

Wouldn't listen.

And it was such

A sad program.

And at the end of it

The interviewer

Speaking to him

Telling him

You know you've got

Such a beautiful family

You've got so many

Friends around you

You stand

To lose it all

If you don't stop.

And his response was

I won't stop drinking.

It was such a sad picture.

He wouldn't stop.

But just a couple of weeks ago

I was reading about him.

And he's been sober

For two years.

People didn't give up.

People continued

To look out for him

And tried to help him.

And eventually

He acknowledged

He needed help.

And he got the help

He needed.

Now Samuel here

Is addressing a problem.

A problem

Not just like an addiction

Like Kenny Samson had

But a problem

That we all have.

A problem that we all

Have to acknowledge.

That we are all sinners

In need of mercy

From the Lord Jesus Christ.

To put away

The idols.

To put away

The things

That we are addicted to

That keep us

From having a right

Relationship with God

And turning to him

Instead.

So Samuel comes

With this fresh grace

This call

To realize

Their need of mercy

From God.

But then it goes on

And what we see is

Samuel speaks then

Of an experience

Of God's mercy.

And how they experience

God's mercy

In such a wonderful way.

And you see that

In verse 5

Through to verse 11.

Samuel gathers

The people together.

Look at verse 5.

It says

Then Samuel said

Gather all Israel

At Mizpah

And I will pray

To the Lord

For you.

All the people

Recognizing

That they have

Fallen short of God

That they need

God's mercy

They come together

With Samuel

At Mizpah

And he says

I will pray

For you.

And look at the response

Of the people

In verse 6.

So they gathered

At Mizpah

And drew water

And poured it out

Before the Lord

And fasted on that day

And said there

We have sinned

Against the Lord.

There is this

Acknowledgement.

There is this

Realization

We have sinned

Against God.

But Samuel

Comes with a plea

For the people.

He is praying

For them.

And the plea

For help

In the midst

Of the plea

For help

The wonder is

That God

Is there to help.

It's not always

An easy path

As you see

As it goes on here.

And sometimes

It's a path

That leads us

To be afraid

And wonder

Just what way

To go

And what to do.

And you see that

In verse 7.

They acknowledge

They have sinned

Against God.

But

And Samuel

Judged the people

There.

That means he brought

The word of God

To them.

But then in verse 7.

Now when the Philistines

Heard that the people

Of Israel

Had gathered at Mizpah

The lords of the Philistines

Went up against Israel.

And when the people

Of Israel

Heard of it

They were afraid

Of the Philistines.

What's their response

When they hear?

They're afraid.

And so often

When we come

Before God

And acknowledge

Our sin

It leaves us

Afraid.

And another thing

It does

Is just like

When the people

Of Israel

Here gathered

And the Philistines

Heard about it

And they gathered

To come

And fight

Against them again

When we show

An interest

In the things

Of God

When we begin

To realize

And acknowledge

Our sin

And say before God

We have sinned

Against you

There is an enemy

That will attack

As well

The devil

When he sees

Someone interested

In the things

Of God

He will come

And fight

That battle

To take you back

He doesn't want

To lose any

To God

And so the battle

Will go on

And the struggle

Will be real

And it may leave

You a sense

Of fear

Afraid

What am I doing

How can I go on

In my own strength

How can I keep going

I'm not up

For this battle

And that's why

It's so important

To realize

It's so important

The experience

Of God's mercy

That the children

Of Israel

Enjoyed here

They cried

To Samuel

And said

Do not cease

To cry out

To the Lord

Your God

For us

And so Samuel

Continued

To pray

He offered up

A sacrifice

And as he did

What happened

God came

To the people

And you

He showed

Them mercy

The Philistines

Threw near

It says

In verse 10

But the Lord

Thundered

With a mighty

Sound

That day

The Lord

Is greater

The Lord

Is mighty

To save

The Lord

Is on your side

As you put

Your trust

In him

You will

Be afraid

We will all

Be afraid

At times

We will all

Struggle

At times

But to remember

The Lord

Is on our side

The Lord

Is with you

And that is what

The people

Were again

Realizing here

And that is what

We are to realize

For ourselves

As well

The Lord

Revived his people

And the Lord

Revived his protection

Over them

Samuel

They call

To him

To help

Them

We don't

Call

On Samuel

Today

But who do

We call

On

In the midst

Of all

Our doubts

And fears

And anxieties

Of going

Forward

For the Lord

Who do we

Call on

We look

To Jesus

We call

On him

We call

On him

Who gave

Himself

For us

We come

In prayer

To him

And he

Hears

Your prayer

And he

Is able

To thunder

Out

Just like

The Lord

Did here

He is able

To protect

You

He is able

To keep

You

He will

Shield

You

He will

Never

Leave

You

That is

The great

Promise

We will

All have

These doubts

All have

These anxieties

But we can

Take them

To the Lord

In prayer

If you have

Ever read

The book

Pilgrim's

Progress

This will

Be familiar

To you

If you have

Never read

It do

Read it

Because it

Speaks so

Much of

The Christian's

Journey

Of carrying

This great

Weight

Of sin

On our

Back

And the

Way

The journey

Takes so

Many twists

And turns

And there is

One point

In the book

Where John

Bunyan wrote

Speaking of

Christian

And a

Friend he has

With him

Hopeful

And once

Again

They have

Taken a

Deed

Through

Of the

Right

Path

And they have

Ended up

In a

Place

Called

Doubting

Castle

And everything

In this

Book

It just

Relates

To so

Many

Experiences

We have

On the

Christian

Journey

And

Christians

Will have

Doubts

There will

Be times

When we are

Afflicted

With doubts

But what

Do we do

In these

Times

Well

In this

Book

Christian

And hopeful

Are in

Doubting

Castle

And the

Owner of

The castle

Is called

Giant

Despair

And his

Wife

Is a

Scary

Woman

Too

And they're

Locked up

Here

And they're

Suffering

There

They're being

Tortured

There

And then

They turn

To God

In prayer

And as

They're

Praying

Christian

Remembers

That he was

Given a

Key

Before

On this

Journey

And he

Has this

Key in

His

Pocket

And this

Key is

Called

Promise

And what

The key

Does

Is it

Unlocks

Every door

For them

To get

Out of

Doubting

Castle

Back

Onto

The right

Path

Every way

Is opened

Up

And it's

Just a

Reminder

To us

That the

Lord has

Given us

Promise

Promise

That he

Will help

Promise

That he

Will be

With us

And so

As we

Go through

Life

As we

Go on

This

Journey

And as

We take

Maybe the

Wrong turns

At different

Places

And as

We suffer

In different

Ways

Take it

To the

Lord

In prayer

And remember

All his

Promises

And so

You have

This

Call

To

Mercy

You have

This

Experience

Of

Mercy

Then thirdly

And finally

We have

This

Remembrance

Of

Mercy

How

Forgetful

We are

As a

People

How often

And how

Easily

We forget

So much

We forget

The Lord's

Marshes

We forget

What the

Lord has

Done for

Us

How he's

Helped

Us

So many

Different

Times

And yet

Here we

See

Samuel

Put a

Reminder

Down

For the

People

He took

A stone

In verse

12

And set

It up

Between

Misbah

And called

His name

Ebenezer

For he

Said

Till now

The Lord

Has

Held

Us

Hither

To

The Lord

Has

Held

Us

What a

Wonderful

Remembrance

They have

Hither

To

The Lord

Has

Held

Us

It stands

There before

Them as a

Constant

Reminder

The Lord

Has

Blessed

Us

The Lord

Has

Been

With

Us

The Lord

Has

Been

Faithful

To

Us

Help

Us

To

Be

Faithful

To

Him

When

They

Looked

At

This

Stone

They

Were

Reminded

Of

Two

Things

They

Are

Reminded

Of

The

Way

That

They

Had

Forgot

God

Of

How

They

Disobeyed

God

Going

Back

The

Stone

Is

Called

Ebenezer

You

Go

Back

To

Chapter

4

The

Very

Place

That

They

Disobeyed

God

Was

Called

Ebenezer

So

It's

A

Reminder

To

Them

They

Have

Done

Wrong

Against

God

But

That

Wasn't

The

Only

Reminder

You

See

The

Second

Reminder

Was

That

God

Had

Showed

Marshy

God

Had

Helped

And

So

This

Stone

As

It

Reminded

Them

Of

Their

Weakness

It

Reminded

Of

Them

Strength

God

Hitherto

The

Lord

Has

Helped

Us

For

Ourselves

Today

Do

We

Have

A

Stone

Of

Remembrance

Well we

Sang

In

Psalm

118

And

There

It

Mentions

A

Stone

It

Says

The

Stone

The

Builders

Rejected

Has

Become

The

Cornerstone

And

What

Is

The

Stone

That

That

Psalm

Is

Speaking

About

It

Reminding

Us

Of

The

Stone

Who

Is

Our

Help

The

Lord

Jesus

Christ

A

Stone

For

His

People

A

Stone

That

Is

A

Rock

That

Nothing

Will

Defeat

Nothing

Will

Put

Down

It

Is

The

Rock

Of

Salvation

The

Lord

Jesus

Christ

So

Why

Are

We

Looking

At

This

Passage

Today

Well

A

Fortnight

From

Now

We

Will

Gather

Just

As

The

People

Here

Were

Reminded

Of

Their

Sin

And

Of

The

Mercy

Of

God

So

We

Will

Be

Reminded

And

Remember

The

Mercy

Of

God

To

Us

As

We

Take

Communion

Together

Maybe

Now

I

Hope

We

Are

All

Thinking

What

Does

That

Mean

For

Me

When

We

Think

Of

The

People

Here

Lamenting

For

Twenty

Years

They

Came

To

The

Point

Where

They

Realized

I

Have

Sinned

Against

God

And

Even

In

All

Their

Fears

And

Worries

They

They

They

They

They

Were

And

That

Is

The

Great

Reminder

For

Us

At

The

Cross

Too

As

We

See

The

Bread

And

The

Wine

They

Are

Reminders

To

Us

To

Remember

What

The

Lord

Jesus

Christ

Has

Done

For

Us

Because

As

We

Look

To

The

Cross

Just

Like

The

People

Were

Reminded

Of

Their

Sin

Here

And

The

Mercy

Of

God

So

As

We

Look

To

The

Cross

We

Are

Reminded

Of

Our

Sin

That

Put

Our

Savior

There

How

Far

Short

We

Fall

Of

His

Glory

And

What

He

Had

To

Do

For

His

People

To

Bear

Our

Sins

On

The

Cross

It

Reminds

Us

Of

Our

Sin

But

More

Than

That

It

Reminds

Us

Of

The

Mercy

Of

God

That

Whoever

Believes

In

Him

Will

Not

Perish

But

Have

Everlasting

Life

We

Have

A

Remembrance

Ourselves

A

Remembrance

Stone

And

That

Stone

Is

The

Lord

Jesus

Christ

And

If

You

Could

Say

Today

Till

Now

The

Lord

Has

Helped

Us

Till

Now

The

Lord

Has

Helped

Me

Should

You

Not

Be

Coming

With

All

Your

Heart

To

Worship

God

And

To

Do

This

In

Remembrance

Of

Him

To

Show

I

Love

The

Lord

Because

My

Voice

And

Prayers

Heeded

Hear

The

People

Here

They

Were

Given

This

Reminder

A

Constant

Reminder

That

Would

Say

To

Them

Every

Time

They

Saw

It

Till

Now

The

Lord

Has

Helped

Us

And

So

We

Too

Will

Gather

In

Remembrance

Of

What

The

Lord

Has

Done

And

That

We

Will

Be

Able

To

Say

With

All

God's

People

Hitherto

The

Lord

Has