One Only

Thank you both for your prayer.

And turn back to the passage that we read together in 1 Samuel chapter 7.

1 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

And we'll read it verse 3.

And Samuel said to the house of Israel,

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

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.

In a sense, I want to carry on just the time that we have,

just carry on from where we left off on Sunday night.

And we were in chapter 5 and 6 there.

And previously, we had seen that the nation of Israel had gone to war

on their own terms,

for their own desires to be free from the Philistines.

And then we found out that they lost the Ark,

as they brought the Ark of God into battle,

by their own reasonings.

And they lost it, the Philistines over Canaan.

The Ark ended up in the land of the Philistines.

And we saw how God revealed himself to both his own people

and to the Philistines.

And we thought of God and his characteristics using the fourth catechism.

God was that spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable.

And in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

And you could spend as much time as you want thinking about God

and trying to understand him.

And we kind of get enriched as we do that.

We are encouraged by the awesomeness of who God is.

And in a sense, we can't understand truly who he is.

He is incomprehensible.

I want to look now at the passage that we have

where the people come back to God.

And catechism five fits in well with our thoughts as well,

which is, are there more gods than one?

And the answer is, there is but one only,

the living and true God.

I'm not sure how far this method will carry on through Samuel,

but I thought it just fits so well.

That's what Samuel is saying to the people.

Remember, come back to the Lord.

God.

God.

Worship the Lord only.

And it's a fundamental teaching.

And you might sit there and be thinking,

well, this is all something that we believe.

Of course we do as Christians.

We believe that God is one.

God is the only Lord of our lives.

But there is much for us to learn from this,

as much as to remind ourselves of who God is.

And we often need reminders because we often forget the basics.

We often get carried away in our lives,

even if it's in our Christian lives.

And this passage was to Israel,

the Lord's chosen people.

And we are the Lord's people.

And it was said before them to put away all other gods and worship the Lord only,

directing our hearts.

And certainly we as a people must adhere to that as well.

We must agree with that,

to direct our hearts to the Lord and to serve him only.

And he will be a God that will deliver you.

And in the people of Israel,

who had gone their own way,

they had gone into battle,

they had disrespected God's presence of the ark.

There's a change of thought here in the people.

There's a redirection in their understanding of who God is.

As God revealed who he was,

they began to understand,

what have we done?

This God is that power,

wisdom,

holiness.

He is a just God.

He is good.

And he is a true God.

And he has become all the more true to them.

True enough that they would change their minds and change their direction.

So there is a redirection.

And there is a deliverance that we see in the passage.

So we'll just pick up on these points of a redirection and a deliverance that comes to them as they come back to God.

Verse 2 tells us that a long time has passed.

It says in the middle there of verse 2,

20 years have passed.

But there was,

after having this,

all of a sudden,

God had acted

before the Philistines.

He had declared who he was.

And then you've got this

almost silence for 20 years

where nothing happens.

There's no divine interruption from God like we saw

in the last chapter.

But there's a change

that we see that Israel

lamented

after the Lord.

Samuel saw the people

had gained this understanding

of who God was.

He was seeing them lamenting

after the Lord.

And he came to them.

And they were,

you know,

they were a people,

remember they were a people of chapter 6.

He said,

this God is a holy God

who can stand,

who can stand in his presence.

They were beginning to understand.

And Samuel comes to them now

and he's saying,

if you are returning to the Lord

with all your heart,

then put away the foreign gods.

And he's saying,

this redirection,

it requires devotion,

complete devotion.

And God asks for a whole heart.

As he had always done

when he revealed himself

to the people of Israel

in Deuteronomy,

Deuteronomy 6:4

chapter 6,

verse 4,

God says to the people,

hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul

and with all your might.

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul

and with all your might.

He is one

that we must devote ourselves to

entirely as one.

This is a,

this is a,

this is a,

this is called the Shema

in the Jewish tradition.

And this is a prayer

that the Jewish people

will pray daily

to remind themselves

who God is.

The Lord is one.

So it does us

entirely beneficial for us

just to think about more

on who God is

as that one being.

and our love to God.

It should never,

it should never be divided.

And that's our ideal.

We don't want to divide

our love to God,

but we admit that we fail,

we fail to keep

that devotion.

We want,

as the Lord's people,

the people who are chosen

by him,

we want to be near to God.

We want to,

we want to know

as much of God

as we can

by what he has revealed to us.

We want,

we want to feel

the strength of God.

And when our love

and our devotion

and our hearts

are torn

in another direction,

we,

we lose

that

ideal.

And,

and we all do it.

We all want

as much of God

when we come

to understand

who he is,

but

we admit that

something else

gets in the way.

We,

we,

we separate ourselves

from God.

We have

our

idols

in a sense

like Israel.

And,

you know,

in my bedroom,

there's a,

it's like a three pane window.

There's one big one

in the middle

and two on the side.

So,

you know,

if I

took the things

in my life

and we can all do it

and I'm speaking

to myself

every time

I look at

the word of God,

you know,

we can have

these idols

and things

that we

place higher

than we should

in our lives.

And I was thinking

it would be like a,

it would be like

a different colored paper

for different things.

You know,

if it was football

or cars

or whatever

it would be,

houses

or,

or carrier

and we can have

all these different

colored papers

that we place

in our lives

and when we put

them on,

it restricts

the light

coming through

the window.

And if our,

if our lives

was the room,

then,

then we are

putting these things

in between

ourselves

and the source

of light,

God.

And,

and maybe what we do

is like,

I was thinking,

I probably cover up

the two side panes

and I leave the main

pane

in the middle

clear.

I let the light

in

and

that is my,

my main

window,

as it were,

in my life.

This is main

central pane.

But I've got all

this stuff

on the side

that

restricts

even greater

light coming in.

And we as

Christians need to

clear our lives

from these idols

or these things

that we elevate

into positions

that they shouldn't

be there.

We all,

we are all tempted

and the devil

will throw paper

at us

and,

and we just

automatically put

them on

because we love

them so much

and we love to

see them

in our lives.

But even then,

when we,

we place these

things before us,

the light

comes through

them.

They're all

from God

in a sense.

Everything we

have is from

God.

And behind

all these

things,

light shines.

But if we

reduce that

light

in,

within us,

we've spoken,

we've

prayed about

ones that

would radiate

the light.

And God

has put in

gifts within

each of us.

And if we

restrict that

light within

ourselves,

we don't,

the light

doesn't flood

into the room

as it should.

It doesn't flood

into our lives.

The word of God

should flood

into our lives

as much as we

can receive

from God.

That's our

ideal,

that we

see as much

of God

and the beauty

of God

as that light

comes upon

us.

And as we

say,

God creates

us and

God gifts

us.

And it's like

as if there

were jewels

in the room

that God

has placed

within our

lives.

And as the

light of God

comes in,

people will

see these

jewels that

will reflect

out the

glory of God

from us.

us.

So we,

in a sense,

need to have

the redirection

that Israel

had.

We need

to come

back to

God and

lament over

the things

that are in

our lives

that we

place on

the side

windows.

Maybe we're

keeping them,

maybe what the

world are doing

is covering

the whole

window and

restricting

their view of

God entirely

and saying

he's not

there.

But we as

Christians,

maybe we

we're

clutching up

the sides

and we're

not allowing

God in as

much as

we should.

We need to

put these

things,

we need to

have redirection,

we need to

remind ourselves

every day,

the Lord,

our God,

the Lord

is one

and one

that is

worthy

of one

entire

devotion

from us.

He is one

that we

must concentrate

on as one

and give

all that

we can

to.

there are

things in

our lives

that we

shouldn't

keep and

we just

need to

put them

away,

things that

are not

good for

us.

We just

need to

put them

away.

Israel

delighted to

have the

ask returned

to them

after 20

years,

but they

still held

on to

the gods.

They were

delighted to

have the

ask returned

to them,

but they

still held

on to

their gods

for 20

years.

Samuel

is saying

to them,

put them

away,

get rid

of these

gods,

clear the

window and

let the

light of

the Lord

your God

enter into

your hearts.

the Lord

is a

jealous God

and he

will not

be worshipped

alongside

any

other.

He is

the one

and only,

he is

living and

he is

true.

And this

redirection

as we see

in the

people,

it comes

with a

confession

of our

error,

confessions

of our

sins as

we see

the people

doing in

verse 6.

We have

sinned against

the Lord.

we have

sinned against

the Lord.

But if we

look at

our lives

and we see

these side

windows

cluttered,

we say

we have

sinned

against the

Lord.

But he

is one

that if

we confess

our sins,

he is

faithful and

just to

forgive us

them and

cleanse us

from all

unrighteousness.

1 John 1

1 John 1:9

verse 9.

we confess

all of

these things

and bring

them before

and we

lament

over them

and we

confess we

have sinned,

he will

cleanse us,

which is

something we

struggle to

grasp here,

that he

will cleanse

us.

And our

redirection,

we as our

people must

direct

ourselves

to the

Lord

entirely,

to that

light.

so let's

look at

the

deliverance

that the

people have

in this

passage as

well.

People

confess their

sins and

Samuel,

in a sense,

he's like an

intercessor for

them on their

behalf.

The situation

that they

have,

they've

gathered at

Mishpana,

it's turned

on its

head when

Israel are

faced with

the threat

of the

Philistines.

the

Philistines

reappear in

this passage

again.

And just

as it took

20 years

for Israel

to return

to the

Lord,

it took

20 years

for the

Philistines

to forget

about the

power that

God had

before them

in the

ark.

It's

interesting

what time

can do

to us

as people.

It reads

that they

came against

Israel in

verse 7.

Israel feared

this nation

was gathered

not for

battle,

they were

gathered to

devote themselves

and return

themselves to

the Lord.

They didn't

have any

armory,

they didn't

have any

weapons to

fight the

Philistines as

they came,

but the

Philistines

are probably

and they

understand to

be a

strong nation.

There's

chariots and

irons with

the strength

of iron,

far stronger

than Israel.

So they

had a right

to fear

that they're

trapped,

they're

gathered

together and

this threat

is coming

upon them.

In every

sense of

the word,

they've

lost.

There's a

prospect that

they are

losing this

and you

can't help

but wonder

what are

they thinking?

They came

before the

Philistines,

before they

defeated them

and they

went back

to the

ark in the

previous passages.

what are

they going

to do?

Where are

they going

to go?

Will they

find confidence

in themselves

again to go

against the

Philistines?

They don't.

Maybe they're

just in a

position where

they're completely

at ends for

themselves.

like we

cannot do

anything.

We are,

we have

lost.

And so

they cry

out to

Samuel,

do not

cease to

cry out

for us.

We can

do nothing

for ourselves.

They've

come to

devote

themselves

to the

Lord and

they're

trusting

that God

will free

them.

The Lord

will be

faithful to

them.

And they

rely upon

him.

some

people may

portray the

Christian life

that, you

know, when

you become

a Christian,

it's easy.

God's on

your side and

you'll have no

problems, you'll

have no

anxieties

whatsoever,

which is

not, which

is not

true.

Many people

as Christians

go through

very difficult

circumstances.

And even

when we

stand for

God, as

this deal

we're doing

here, they

are making

us stand

for God.

We can

be sure

that the

devil will

not be

far away.

We can

be sure

that there

will be a

test awaiting

us.

When we

devote our

lives like

Israel did,

they came

with their

hearts to

devote them

to Israel.

We can

be sure

that there

will be

something to

challenge us

in our

lives.

Maybe you

can think

back when

you became

a Christian.

Things that

were thrown

thrown in

your way,

things that

came before

you, that

made you

question,

well, am

I on the

right path?

Is it going

to be this

difficult all

the way?

And we

can start in

our faith and

we can think

that, well, I

don't have the

strength to do

it.

I can't go

on, I can't

go on in my

faith.

there's no

way I can

do this.

But God

shows himself

to be

faithful as

he did to

the people.

God was

their protector.

They trusted

in God

and God

left them

in awe

at what he

did.

There's no

doubt that

God surprised

them by the

means of his

protection.

Verse 10

tells us that

the Lord

thundered a

mighty sound

and threw

the Philistines

into confusion.

Maybe the

world will

come against

us in a

certain way.

But when the

world go their

own way,

there's a

confusion.

It was

mentioned in

prayer.

Confusion

rules in a

people I

forget about

God.

But when we

remember God,

he will

clearly direct

us.

And he

gave the

people who

trusted in

him a

strength and

ability to

overcome the

challenges that

were set

before him.

He gave

them the

ability and

the strength

to overcome

the challenges

that were set

before them

as a nation.

It seemed

that everything

was against

them and they

were defeated

already.

But God

was faithful

to him.

They asked,

do not cease

to cry out

for us.

And God

is one who

will not

turn out

prayer from

him and

will not

withhold his

grace from

me.

Psalm 66.

And maybe,

well, maybe

they would

have been so

relieved.

God has

been faithful.

God has

been my

protector.

And Samuel

comes and he

puts up this

Ebenezer.

stone, a

reminder to

the people

of what

happened.

Remember the

time the

Philistines came

amongst us

and God

freed us

from the

threat.

But if you

remember,

probably don't

remember,

but if you

go back

to,

I can't find

it, at the

beginning when

they came to

battle against

the Philistines

in chapter

four,

the people

of us

encamped

at Ebenezer.

It says in

chapter four,

verse one,

they encamped

at Ebenezer

when they

went on

their own

strength.

And then

it says

later on

in the

passage that

the Philistines

took the

ark from

Ebenezer.

I can't

find the

verse there.

So this

stone, not

only a

reminder of

what God

had done

for them,

it was a

reminder of

themselves and

what they

had done,

the errors

they had

made.

A reminder

that they

were before

God, a

reminder

that they

had to

acknowledge,

it was a

reminder that

they were

acknowledging

this day,

that they

were putting

all their

gods behind

them.

And they

were going

to trust

in this

God, they

had made

their stakes,

we have

sinned before

you, and

we will be

faithful today

to you.

We will be

faithful to

you, our

Lord and

our God,

you are

one.

This stone

may be a

reminder of

when God

departed from

them, but

they didn't

leave them,

gods that

came back

to them,

God that

was fighting

for them

even when

he was in

a land

where they

couldn't

see it.

God was

long-suffering

with them,

and he was

faithful to

them, and

he came

back as

their

salvation.

And again,

what we

mentioned in

prayer, we

can have many

stones of

remembrance in

our lives.

There are

places that

are good for

us to come

back to and

remember what

God has

done.

And the

stone was

set up for

the people,

as I

reminded and

witnessed before

them, this is

what God has

done for you.

And they

would come

back there

time and

time and

see,

remember the

time that

we made all

our mistakes,

that God

was faithful

to us, and

God delivered

us from a

time that we

thought we

were at loss,

a time that

we had been

overcome, but

he was

faithful.

And in a

sense, Christ,

our great

intercessor, has

set up a

stone of

remembrance for

us in the

Lord's

Supper, that

we come and

confess ourselves

and who we

are.

We examine

ourselves.

We are

thankful for

all that he

has done for

us, and we

praise him,

that he is

the one that

has overcome

death for

us, and he

has been our

protector, and

he is one

that will go

with us.

But notice

also, before

we finish, that

there was

peace in the

land.

When they

came and

devoted

themselves,

you know,

they have

been through

all this

fighting,

with the

ark coming

back, and

God showing

them who

he was, and

then when

they come and

consecrate

themselves, when

they give the

entirety of

their being

to God, he

gives them

peace.

It says in

verse 13,

that the hand

of the Lord

was against

the Philistines

all the days

of Samuel.

There was

peace between

Israel and

the Amorites.

I think I

put that

wrong.

There was

peace in

the land.

There was

peace in

the land.

Desires of

the people,

when they

went to

fight to

be set

free from

the Philistines

in chapter

four, when

they went

to fight,

this is what

they tried to

do on their

own strength,

but they

didn't gain

it.

They forgot

about God,

they didn't

respect God,

they didn't

honour God

the way they

should have

and they

were defeated.

But God

is one that

gave them

what they

desired when

they came

back to

him.

Delight

yourself in

the Lord

and he

will give

you the

desires of

your heart,

Psalm 37.

Peace is

found with

God.

The believer

will have

peace when

he gives

everything that

he has to

God.

and we

look back

over our

lives and

we see,

yes, we've

done many

things wrong,

many sins

in us and

they continue

with us and

we want to

put all these

things away

from us.

We don't

want to have

any idols,

but they

will come

and we

will give

them a

position that

we shouldn't

and we

must come

back and

confess our

failure,

confess our

sins,

realizing the

need of

his son and

the sacrifice

that he

paid for

us,

calling out

to him

that he

would intercede

for us,

that he

would remember

us and

not cease

to pray for

us.

We would

call out to

him because

we are weak

and we are

desperately

in need

of strengthening

to face the

battle that we

have against

this world,

death is

an evil

that will

overcome

me,

but he

is one

that has

delivered

us from

death.

He is not

one that

will fail

you.

He is

our great

intercessor

that stands

there on

our behalf

before God

and he

does not

dismiss our

confession

when we

cry to

him for

our help

and he

is one

that will

set us

free from

our

innings

and it

will be

true

that as we

look back

over our

lives

and even

as we

sit here

tonight we

can say

till now

the Lord

has helped

us and

every day

we can look

back saying

the Lord

has helped

us every

step that

we have

taken.

He has

been faithful

to us.

He has

not dismissed

my pleas

and my cry

for help.

He has

been my

protector.

He has

been my

deliverer

and he

is one

that is

worthy

of trusting.

He is

all

powerful.

He is

all wise.

He is

all holy.

He is

all just.

He is

good and

he is

true and

true to

his people.

There is

none

besides

him.

He is

one.

And maybe

when you

go home

you can

read through

Hannah's

prayer and

you can

see when

Samuel comes

into his

own here

and delivers

the people.

There are

elements of

Hannah's

prayer that

just fit in

with this

passage so

well.

Where he

delivers him

and there is

a thundering

of the

Lord.

Hannah's

got that

focus on

who the

Lord is.

She knows

who the

Lord is.

And God

honoured

his name

through his

people.

God will

vindicate his

name through

his people.

God will

not leave

you or

forsake you.

Amen.

May we

conclude in

praise by

singing in

Psalm 143

of the

Scottish

Church.