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| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Rev. Steven Swets > Seeking the Lord in Repentance | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) *Song of Adoration: Hymnal #116B: 1, 7, 9 “I Love the Lord, the Fount of Life and Grace” *Song of Preparation: Hymnal #172 “Speak, O Lord” Scripture: I Samuel 7:2-17; Matthew 10:34-39 Text: I Samuel 7:2-17 Message: Seeking the Lord in Repentance Song of Preparation: Hymnal #429 “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” *Song of Response: Hymnal #91B “Who with God Most High Finds Shelter” *Doxology: Hymnal #254: 1 |
Scripture Reading: I Samuel 7:2-17 and Matthew 10:34-39
Scripture Text: I Samuel 7:2-17
Beloved Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
This week I exercised my constitutional right to use my voice to vote. Election day is one of those days that brings a nation together, physically, but not ideologically. When I got to the school where I was assigned to vote, I got in the long line and shortly after I heard a confrontation between an election judge and some of the people in the line. I couldn’t catch what was all said, but neither side was happy and the election judge stomped away. So, I was left wondering, am I supposed to be in this long line. I walked further in the gym and I saw tables for each precinct. I saw precinct 3, which was mine and I walked up to the table which hand no one waiting in line and I said, I am in precinct 3, can I vote here. The judges there said yes. I showed my id, I was walked to my little voting booth and after a few instructions and some buttons pushed I was on my way back out the door. As I was leaving, I saw those same people who had gotten into the confrontation still in the line that had moved about 4 spots. As I walked out the door, the line now reached much further. I got in the car and said to Rachel, that was a pleasant voting experience. My experience could be contrasted with those still waiting with frustration in the long line.
The contrasts of the two Ebenezer’s in I Samuel was even greater. You might remember back to the first Ebenezer. Look back at 4:1. That was a devastating day for Israel. But now, in our text, Samuel is going to raise the Ebenezer a bit further North as a reminder of God as our helper. Really the themes of chapter 7 revolve around repentance and God as our helper. As we will see, both of those are connected to each other. Our theme is Our God blesses His people as Samuel leads them in repentance.
I. The Call of Repentance
II. The Act of Repentance
III. The Fruit of Repentance
I. The Call of Repentance
Once the ark of the Lord was returned by the Philistines, it lodged at Kiriath-Jearim for 20 years. Verse 2 ends by saying that all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. They lamented because of their enemies. They lamented because Shiloh had been likely destroyed, and they lamented because worship had been so negatively impacted. Remember the larger theme in I Samuel. The people are going to long for a godly king and Samuel is going to be called to prepare the way for David. He will not be a perfect king, but he will shepherd Israel. Also, as we have seen, the ark was returned to Israel, not because Israel had so faithfully repented and requested this of God. God had afflicted the Philistines and they wanted to be rid of the Israelite God and his ark.
Samuel, as the Lord’s prophet called the people to repentance before the Lord. Think of him like John the Baptist going around preaching a baptism of repentance in preparation for the Messiah. So Samuel, no longer serving at Shiloh where Eli had raised him, now in our text Samuel is shown to be an itinerant preacher, a judge, a prophet, and a priest. He is the one who calls the people to repentance.
Notice what he says in verse 3. Samuel is calling for the people’s hearts. That is important, for that is where true worship begins. This was more than simply throwing your old idols into the garbage can or fire pit. Without the heart, the external change would only be temporary and would only conform to the letter and not the spirit or the heart of the law.
Repentance would be shown first in getting rid of the foreign gods. It says in verse 4 that they got rid of the Baals and Ashtaroth. These Canaanite gods were fertility gods. Ashtaroth might be singled out in verse 3 so that Yahweh would have a female counterpart, as was common in paganism. It was Baal and Ashtaroth that would bring rain and favorable harvests to the land. As you can imagine being fertility gods, wicked things were done to try to appease the gods to bring rainfall and good weather. So, humanly speaking that is what Samuel is up against. The flesh versus the Spirit. The be faithful to Baal and Ashtaroth you would have been able to sexually defile yourself in honor of the gods. That sounds like it would be a bit more popular than a prayer meeting. This is why Samuel, speaking for the Lord, knew it would only occur if it truly was a matter of their heart.
What he is calling the people to do is similar to what Joshua called the people to in Joshua 24. “Choose you this day whom you will serve.” Samuel’s call is really a recovery of the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” But this is also echoed in the call of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 10:37-38 (read). He isn’t saying so much about your view of your family, but rather your view of God. The nations around Israel had deities that had no problem with polytheism. But Yahweh was different, for he is a jealous God, meaning, he demands exclusive worship. The call comes to us today, to ensure that the Lord our God is number 1.
II. The Act of Repentance
Samuel calls together all Israel to Mizpah. This would have been slightly North of Shiloh, still not very far from the Philistine border lands. Obviously, in order to do so, he would have had to been preaching from village to village. So, they gather together at Mizpah, and pour water on the ground and called for a fast. It is not entirely clearly why they poured water on the ground. It might have symbolized their repentance, the washing away of their sins, their trust that Yahweh provided rain, etc. The text is not explicitly clear. And they called a fast. They did so because this is the way that in a time of repentance and fervent prayer the believer is drawn closer to the Lord. Fasting has been an important spiritual discipline in the history of the church, but it has fallen on hard times. Maybe we need to recover it. (for another sermon)
In verse 6 the people confess that they have sinned against the Lord. It says then that Samuel judged them. Samuel judging is mentioned 4 times. What this would have involved was a call to repentance after a judgement of guilt. Judges had other roles that Samuel would have carried out, but this is what it seems like is happening here.
But there is a problem. During this time of corporate repentance and fasting, the Philistines heard that there was a call to worship at Mizpah. This would be their chance to rout the Israelites. And our text says in verse 7 that they were afraid of the Philistines. They heard the Philistines were coming and they were afraid. So, they did what they should have done before. They humbled themselves before God.
Earlier when the Philistines came up against them, they decided to use the ark as their secret weapon. That idea backfired. The ark was captured and God was dishonored and we learned what the name Ichabod means, the glory of the Lord has left Israel. Now, they seek their mediator in verse 8. In these verses we see a great contrast between what the Israelites did under Hophni and Phineas and what they are doing now. They have learned repentance. Let’s notice a few things here about repentance.
Notice that their repentance was corporate. To be sure, each one had to examine his heart and rid his home of idolatry, but they came together as the people of God. Why? Because their sins were shared.
Second, notice that it was God’s people who initiated the repentance. They lamented and Samuel called them to repentance. So often when people “repent” it is because they got caught. Or they are sorry for the “hurt” of their sin or its consequences. In verse 6 they says, “we have sinned against the Lord.” They had broken his law.
Notice third, that sincere repentance involves a change in life. The first commandment was the preacher’s call. Serve the Lord exclusively. Read verse 4. It is a pagan notion that Yahweh would need a female counterpart. By making the blessed virgin Mary a co-redemptrix with Christ, Roman Catholics have adopted this pagan practice, because, can’t women relate better to a mediator who is also a woman? There is only one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ the righteous. Following the change in life here is to recognize, true repentance leads to worship. We will see this later in the text, but true repentance leads to true worship.
Finally, and this is very important for us to remember, repentance doesn’t promise us ease of life or even a removal of difficult circumstances. At the same time Samuel calls the people to worship, the Philistines are sharpening their swords and putting on their battle armor. Could Israel have said when they saw the Philistines coming, “why are they here, I thought we repented?” No, God doesn’t promise us a lack of trouble. God promises us help in the day of trouble. “God is our refuge and our strength, our ever-present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46.
So, Samuel calls upon the Lord, he offers a sacrifice of a lamb as whole burnt offering and then it is God time to act. God heard Samuel, and in his mercy and might, God thundered with a mighty sound and confused the Philistines and they were defeated before Israel. Read verse 11.
III. The Fruit of Repentance
Read verse 12. It was a glorious day for believers in the Yahweh. The Philistines were defeated and a memorial was set up commemorating the faithful mercy of the Lord. This Ebenezer was much different than the last one in the days of Eli. Here, in the context of this Ebenezer, God’s people humbled themselves before the Lord. Samuel took a large stone and set it up, which seems to imply that it would have been long and called it Ebenezer, which means, stone of help. Samuel says in verse 12, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” Till now is an important phrase. The old KJV has hitherto. Or, “Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’ve come.”
This is a confession of faith. It was to be constant memorial of God’s faithfulness. He was faithful in the past and he will be faithful in the future. It was a commemoration. What is our Ebenezer, but the Lord’s Supper? Here we remember God’s faithfulness in the past. He has provided the atoning sacrifice. That which the lamb symbolized back in verse 9 has now come in the Lord Jesus Christ. The promise has been fulfilled. We are not given a temporary deliverance from the Philistines, we are delivered from sin, satan and death. This salvation comes to us by way of humble repentance. It is free. The battle belongs to the Lord. God miraculously thundered and confused the Philistines in our text. Let us trust him to take care of our enemies as well.
God not only provided peace that day, but he restored the land, he restored salvation, and peace. Verses 13-15 is s summary of Samuel’s life. It is important to see this. He went on an annual circuit in verse 16 as prophet-judge, being a spiritual leader in Israel. Then he would return home to Ramah, where he had built an altar to the Lord. The revival of the first part of our text is replaced with the regular, somewhat normal ministry of God’s servant. That is good to see as well. Most of the work God called Samuel to was simply a faithful plodding along. The greatest ministers are often not the one who are on the radio or writing dozens of books, but they are the ones who are faithful plodders, continuing along feeding the sheep week in and week out. It might not be glamorous work. It can be like pulling weeds in a vegetable garden…not many are gonna say, wow, you did a great job of pulling those weeds, but the fruit will be evident with a healthy harvest. Samuel was a faithful servant of the Lord.
National repentance lead to faithful worship. That is where repentance leads us. In the great worship Psalm, Psalm 99, we read in verse 6 (read). Why did God answer them? Well, repentance is the fuel for faithful and grateful worship. Robert Bergen wrote, “All that was lost in the first Ebenezer event, was restored through repentance in the second.” Let us seek the same. As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper this morning, let us, in our hearts, raise our Ebenezer…victory is from the Lord. Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Steven Swets, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
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