Service That Matters

[00:00:06] Amen. Let's pray. [00:00:09] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this New Year and the new opportunities that we have to serve you and to witness to you and to be a salt and light in the world. We ask, O Lord, that you would help us to remain to have the the flavor of heaven, the distinctiveness of that kingdom in our lives. [00:00:35] Not through some man centered human effort, but through the work of your Holy Spirit, building us up, strengthening us and growing us more and more into the image of the Son. [00:00:52] Lord, we pray for those who are not able to be with us this morning due to illness and other things. We ask that you would bless them and encourage them and bring them back to us soon. We also ask, Lord, that you would bless us as we, as we hear your word, read and preached. That you would speak to our hearts from your word that we might be more and more like you and serve you as you call us to do. Strengthen our faith in you. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. [00:01:27] Please remain standing and let's turn our attention to First Samuel, Chapter 12. [00:01:56] So as we read, I want you to listen for what we might call the bottom line. What is the main thing that Samuel wants to get across? What is the Lord saying through his servant here? [00:02:11] All right, let's hear God's word. 1st Samuel 12. [00:02:15] And Samuel said to all Israel, behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray. And behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day here I am. Testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whom have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you. They said, you have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from a man's hand. And he said to them, the Lord is witness against you. And his anointed is witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand. And they said, he is witness. [00:03:14] And Samuel said to the people, the Lord is witnessed, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore, stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers Cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God, and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against him and they cried against them. And they cried out to the Lord. And he said and said, we have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies that we may serve you. [00:04:14] The Lord sent Jerubbabel and Barak and Japhethah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side. And you lived in safety. [00:04:27] And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, came against you, you said to me, no. But a king shall reign over us. When the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you. [00:04:44] If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord. And if you, both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. [00:05:01] But if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but you rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now therefore, stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking for yourselves a king. So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel, pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil to ask for ourselves a king. And Samuel said to the people, do not be afraid. You have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. [00:06:21] Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. And I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your King. [00:06:47] May God bless His word to us. Please be seated. [00:07:13] At the beginning of a new year, a lot of people, including me, take stock of their lives and various things that are going on and reflect. We think about the things we're doing, the things that we want to do, things that have happened, and hopefully, hopefully we are not thinking about them in any context or any general way, but we're thinking about them in light of the Lord. [00:07:44] We think about our time and our callings, the things that we do in light of Him. [00:07:51] Samuel's doing a similar thing. Here we have an address from Samuel that puts all the recent business about a king in a particular context. The king has come because of certain things that have happened between God and his people and that relationship, that relationship between the king, between the people and between them together and God is all very, very important. [00:08:21] Putting things in a God centered context is what we should do with everything in our lives. And sometimes we forget to do that, don't we? [00:08:33] Psalm 10, verse 4 says this. [00:08:36] In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him. All his thoughts are there is no God. [00:08:45] In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him. All his thoughts are there is no God. [00:08:52] There's pride and foolishness and wickedness in living our lives, living our lives in a way that underlies or belies rather this belief that there is no God. Whether we say it or act like it, it's the same in some ways either way. And it's pride that directs us that way. And it's foolishness. [00:09:20] Instead, God calls us to see everything that we do in light of Him. And that bottom line that I asked you about before I read is very comprehensive, isn't it? If you detected it as we went through 1st Samuel 12, you saw that this point about serving the Lord wholeheartedly and fearing him in every way is a very comprehensive command touching on every aspect of our lives. [00:09:53] Let's take a look at that and see how that comes out by going through these verses and seeing how the Lord brings that out. And then we'll consider that doctrine and a few applications of it. [00:10:11] So if you have your Bibles open, we'll begin in verse one, verses one and two, Samuel says, basically here I've done what you've asked, and now you have a king. This sets the context right? This is a transition point between what has happened and what he's saying now. In light of all that has happened over the last several chapters, Samuel now gives this address. And he says, now it's time to think about this in a particular way. [00:10:41] Now, I won't go back and show it to you right now. You can look for this on your own. But this is not the first time Samuel's talked about these things, or the Lord has brought these up in various ways. But here Samuel's very, very explicit about it. And it's helpful to let this imprint in our hearts. [00:11:02] Well, after bringing up the context of what's going on in verses 3 through 5, Samuel talks about he asks Israel to be a witness against him, if they can be. [00:11:16] It's sort of like that line that happens in weddings sometimes. Or if somebody says, the minister officiant says, you know, if anyone has any reason why these two people should not be married, let him speak now or forever hold his peace. Samuel's doing something like that, similar to that here. [00:11:37] As he begins to come to talk to Israel about these very important things and in some ways to witness against them for their sin. He asked them first to witness against him for ways in which he has been a bad judge. [00:11:52] Have I taken a bribe? Have I stolen things from you? If I have, I'll return it. [00:11:59] Speak against me now or hold your peace. [00:12:04] He is, and this reminds us, the Lord's servant Samuel fills multiple roles. He's very interesting in this way. He's a judge, as he himself points out, a judge in the sense of the judges in the Book of Judges, where he's a kind of savior and rescuer. He's also a judge in the sense of one who teaches and decides things, right? This sense of bribery and judging unfairly blinding his eyes to the truth, he Samuel has this important job, this calling as a servant of the Lord, as a prophet, and in some ways as a leader, as a kingly leader. [00:12:46] And so he calls Israel to witness against him. And what do they say? They say, you're fine. We don't have anything against you. And they even are willing to say that God indeed is witness. [00:13:03] Then in verses six through the nine or so, God points out this. I'm sorry, Samuel points out the righteousness of the Lord in his appointment, not only of Samuel, but also other leaders along the way. He uses this point to tell this story. And we begin to see a second point develop. What does Samuel say? He says, despite these anointed leaders, like himself, like Moses, like Aaron and. And others, Barak and others, despite these anointed leaders of the Lord being used by the Lord to help God's people, as in we see in verse nine, the people forget the Lord their God. [00:13:51] This is a pattern that comes up over and over again. And we're only here in First Samuel. This is a pattern that will continue to repeat throughout the Old Testament. [00:14:05] Samuel in verse 6 says, the Lord is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. [00:14:15] In verse 8, he says that when Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, the fathers cried out to the Lord. Moses and Aaron were sent. But in verse nine, they forgot the Lord their God. [00:14:27] And then we see how the Lord often acts with Israel in these situations when they forget the Lord their God. He allows and uses other kingdoms and nations to rise up against his people and attack them and overtake them. He sells them. A very striking image. He sells his people, people that he rightfully possesses and owns. He sells them into the hand of Sisera, the hand of the Philistines, into the hand of the Moabite. [00:15:00] What happens? Verse 10, they call out against the they call out to the Lord, we've forsaken the Lord. [00:15:08] We also see that the problem, the problem of forsaking God is not just disobedience to his commands, but it's essential rejection of who he is, which is, of course, in part, disobedience to his commands. They confess in verse 10, we have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, but now deliver us out of the hands of their enemies that we may serve you. [00:15:34] Over and over again we see that this is the purpose of God's delivering His people, that they may serve Him. This is why God has saved you, that you may serve him, that your heart may be dedicated to him. Your heart might be in love with him and serve him and witness to him. God saves us so that we might love him and serve him and find freedom in him. [00:16:01] And so again the Lord sends rescuers to rebible Barak, Jephthah and Samuel. He refers to Himself here in the third person and delivers you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. [00:16:16] This teaches us what the Lord does, not only does when we, when he serves, or when he rescues us out from under oppressors and enemies and unrighteousness and idolatry. He makes our hearts to serve him and he makes us safe. [00:16:34] He makes us safe. This is often what we are seeking in our lives. Safety, protection, comfortability, to not be under threat. [00:16:47] Then we come to verse 12 and Samuel brings us up to the current moment. They see a similar situation where Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, come against them. [00:17:00] But what did they do in this moment? Did they seek the Lord their God to save them? No, they said, instead, a king shall reign over us. [00:17:12] Now, all the way back in Deuteronomy, God had promised a king. He told them there would be a king and how he would serve them. Jesus, from the very beginning, before the world was ever created, was planning and it was the will of God that he would be king over his people. That wasn't an afterthought, that came later, right? This was in the very will of God. The problem is not a king over God's people. The problem is the people of God rejecting God so that they could have a king. That's not the kind of king God. That's not the kind of king that God wants for us. It's not the kind of king he wanted for them, a king that would replace him. [00:17:57] In some ways this king would just be like another baal, another Ashtaroth. [00:18:03] So God gives them the king, which on the one hand is a fulfillment of promises that he had made toward them. But in another way, it's also an act of judgment as well. [00:18:17] God is amazing in this way in that he can use one thing for multiple purposes, both to judge and to save. The chief example of this, I hope you know what it is. It's the cross in which God judges the sins of man on the cross and also brings great salvation through it. [00:18:39] So this king, that God that they have asked for, God sets him over him. But now there is this important reminder that this attitude, this attitude in which they chose the king to be in replacement of God will not work. [00:18:59] It will not work under the kingship of God because if they and their king rebel against God, but it's all over. Why? Because no human king, no human king, except for the God man, Jesus Christ himself, can replace God. [00:19:23] No human king can protect us, can protect anyone, over and against God. No human king can establish his rule as the chief rule only and always belongs to God. [00:19:41] And so we come to verse 14 where Samuel now gets to his primary point, that bottom line. In verse 14 he says it for the first time and is going to repeat it just to make sure we really understand and hear it. What does he say? [00:20:00] He says if you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandments of the Lord, if both and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well, that's the positive side. Obedience equals wellness. You can maybe guess what disobedience will equal. We hear it in verse 15. [00:20:28] But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. [00:20:40] And your king. [00:20:43] So God establishes through his prophet the bottom line. You must serve me and serve me alone. You must fear me above all. You must love me above all. [00:20:58] Now, having established that bottom line, Samuel does what a lot of prophets do, what the Lord does through his prophets. And that's he gives him a sign or he gives us a sign to confirm that word. [00:21:12] What's the sign? It's a great storm during this harvest time. So Samuel says in verse 16. Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord God will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord that he may send thunder and and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great and which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking for yourselves a king. [00:21:42] So he calls upon the Lord, the Lord sends thunder and rain. [00:21:48] Now, if you're thinking about this as a mild storm, you probably have the wrong image in your head, because what is the we can tell from the reaction of the people. They're not just hearing some distant booms and saying, great, now we've got some rain, we need a little water. This is not the situation it says, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. [00:22:15] This storm was so great that all the people were terrified. [00:22:23] And it was terrifying, I think, not only because of the storm, but the way in which it came about. It was so clear this wasn't some random chance event. This didn't just happen, which would be scary enough in its own just the power of the storm. But they could tell without a doubt where this power was coming from. [00:22:46] Much like Elijah calling down the fire of heaven to consume the sacrifice, the animals and the altar and all that. [00:22:58] Much like other prophets using signs and proofs of the word of the Lord and the Lord showing His power through this, the Lord is demonstrating his power over his people and over all things. They are and always will be at his mercy. [00:23:22] There's no escaping that. Just like there's no escaping the sky. There's no way in which you can say, well, today I'm not going to be involved with the sky, just not going to be involved with it. No, it's always, always over us. [00:23:38] And even more than that is the omnipotence, the all powerful sovereign God who made the heavens and the earth. [00:23:51] Even more than the sky is ever present, our God is always, ever present because he existed even before he made the sky in the land. [00:24:04] And so this is, of course, always true. But it hits home in that moment when you have thunder and lightning and rain crashing all around you and you see perhaps even your harvest, your economy, your wealth, and all these sorts of things being destroyed. [00:24:27] How did the people react? [00:24:29] Exactly as they should. Praise God. The people said to Samuel, pray for your servants, to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil to ask for ourselves a king. [00:24:45] Brothers and sisters, friends, this is always the right reaction when we are sensing the judgment and the discipline of the Lord. [00:24:57] Repentance, to say to the Lord, you are who you are. We have failed to do what we have failed to do. [00:25:07] Save us, have mercy on us that we may not die. [00:25:16] So this is their prayer. In verse 19 and following, Samuel confesses in verse 20, he affirms, yes, you have done all this evil. But he begins that by saying, do not be afraid. [00:25:31] He says, do not be afraid. Why? [00:25:35] Because if they turn aside to the Lord as they're saying they want to do, if they follow through with the repentance that they are, they're repenting. If they follow through with their repentance, if they serve the Lord with all their heart, then they will be saved. The Lord will answer their prayer. The Lord won't turn a blind eye or turn his ear away from them. Again, an important, important reminder for us. When we sense the Lord's discipline in our lives, when we come under his judgment and we repent of our sins, we should do so. And we should do so remembering that he hears us. [00:26:23] It's not just a you throw it up and hope it sticks. [00:26:28] You pray in faith. Why? Because you know who God is. [00:26:34] Because you know what he has done. Listen to verse 22. The Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for Himself. [00:26:53] It's so important here for you to notice how this is grounded. Okay? How does the Lord ground our confidence? [00:27:02] Does he establish our confidence in our repentance? [00:27:07] No. Does he establish our confidence in our future good works? [00:27:14] No, he establishes our confidence. The assurance that we have in Himself. [00:27:24] Why will we not be afraid? [00:27:27] Because the Lord will not forsake his people. Why will he not forsake his people? He gives two reasons and connected in various ways. One is he says, for His Name's sake, for the honor of his name, for the glory of his name, for the promises that he's made, because he's not a liar, because of the things he said he will do for His Name's sake, He will save his people. [00:27:56] Number two at the end of verse 22, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. [00:28:05] It pleased him. [00:28:07] The Scriptures say that all that God desires, He does. [00:28:13] All that God desires, He does. It pleased Him. God is not doing these things for him, for his people. He's not saving us because his hands are tied. And what else does he have to do? Or what else can he do? He's not doing it because he's frustrated and just going to try something else. He's doing it because he desires to do it. He's pleased to do it. He wants to do it. The Scriptures tell us that the people of the Lord, the elect and Christ are chosen before the foundation of the world according to the goodwill and pleasure God. [00:28:52] So when we think about what the solid foundation for our faith is, what is it? It's the Lord. It's God. And so it does us very much good when we reflect on him in times of repentance, when we reflect not only on our sins and the things that we've done and are honest as we pour our hearts out for him, to him, but we reflect and remember and consider who he is, the things that he has done. [00:29:29] These are. This is the ground of our salvation. [00:29:34] Again we see that God is calling Samuel. God is using Samuel to bring up this bottom line. Again he says, do not turn aside from following the Lord. Serve him with all your heart. We also see the contrast to that in verse 21. Do not turn aside after anything. Or empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. [00:30:01] We'll come back to that. [00:30:04] He gives us the hope for this in verse 22, which we just covered. And then we are reminded that this is grounded in Samuel's prayers, or God is using rather Samuel's prayers and leadership. And then we come to verse 24, and he says it again, one last time. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. [00:30:29] Three times, explicitly and implicitly. More than that, Samuel brings this up over and over again. As Israel has this king established, who are they to serve the one who is above the king? Of course they're to be obedient to the king, the one that the Lord has placed. But they do so in obedience to the greater king, to the Lord. [00:30:56] Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. How I love this. At the end of verse 24. For consider what great things he has done for you. [00:31:09] That's how. [00:31:10] That's how we serve the Lord. We consider the great things that he has done for you. And some of those things Samuel's already mentioned, right? In bringing up Moses and Aaron, in raising up Jacob and the promises that are attached to him, in rescuing his people out of Egypt and putting down Sisera and the Moabite kings and the Philistines and the Egyptians, God has established a very clear track record, a very clear history of being able to defeat anyone he chooses and use anyone he chooses. [00:31:47] When we consider the great things that he has done, and not only that, but the great things that he has done for you, we are encouraged. [00:31:59] And then the final warning. But if you still do wickedly, you will be swept away, both you and your king. [00:32:08] Your king is not your Savior, and especially Saul. And as we'll see, it doesn't take Saul very long to fall. [00:32:21] Saul very quickly will fall away from the things that God has called him to do. And God will raise up another king, a king David, and eventually David's son, who in scriptures called David's greater son, Jesus. One who is from this line of David, but who also is the Son of God, begotten of the Lord from all eternity, that we would have a king who is established over us, who is perfect and will lead us in every way. [00:32:58] As we think about this summary of this chapter, I think out of this comes a very clear call to action, a bottom line that is as true for us today as it was true for them. We must put our faith and fear in God above all else. All people, all places, all circumstances. And we must do so not half heartedly, but wholeheartedly. [00:33:26] That's our call. [00:33:28] That's our call. This, beloved, is what we were made for. God designed us perfectly that we might glorify and enjoy him forever. [00:33:41] I titled this sermon service that matters. [00:33:46] One of the reasons for that is because when we serve the Lord as our chief end, we are serving the highest end. The highest one, the highest purpose, the highest thing. Things really matter. [00:34:03] When we serve him, our lives have meaning. There's connection and wisdom, beauty and richness. [00:34:12] To understand that, we can consider the opposite that God gives to us. In verse 21, he says, do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver. [00:34:27] Why? [00:34:28] Well, he already told us, because they're empty. [00:34:32] They're empty things. When we replace God as our chief end, when we give our hearts half to him and half to money, or half to him and half to fame, or half to him, or partial to him and really seeking our physical beauty or establishment in this world or anything we chase after empty things, how do we see their emptiness? Two ways. They don't profit us in any ultimate way, and they don't deliver us. [00:35:08] They don't bring us the safety, the wellness, the wholeness, the purpose that we need. Ecclesiastes points this out. When we live our lives and think about life only with regard to things that are passing and fleeting, there's no satisfaction. [00:35:28] The preacher there in Ecclesiastes, and there's other people in history who talk about this as well. They pursue with all their strength the things of this world. And what happens come up empty over and over again. You can have the best New Year's resolutions that anybody could come up with the greatest plan in the world. But if you pursue those as your chief end, as the thing that's going to bring you safety and profit and deliver you from all your enemies and all your fears, you are pursuing an empty thing. [00:36:04] It's not to say don't do good things or make commitments or come up with plans, but we must do so in service to the Lord, not to the things of this world, either the sinful ones or the passing ones. [00:36:24] The way of life that gives our hearts wholly to him is a wonderful life. [00:36:32] It's a life we were designed for. It's a life that results in so many good things. And as Samuel very clearly points out here, it's the only way to live. [00:36:45] Or to say it more strongly, to fail to do so is how we die. [00:36:51] We pass away, just like those things that we serve. The bales, the Ashtaroth, money, all these other things, they cannot deliver, they cannot save. And so when we put our faith in these idols, we become like them. [00:37:09] Vain, profitless, empty, and under judgment. [00:37:15] But God has established something different in the great things that God has done in his electing love, in his salvation, and in prefiguring a king here. That ultimately, as Jesus Christ, God establishes us a great redemption. A great redemption that puts the law in our hearts and begins to change our lives in ways that we find freedom. [00:37:43] The good news of the gospel is that God does for us what we are unable to do. [00:37:50] We're unable to serve God and love him like we want to, like we ought to. Not because he failed to design us in the right way, but because sin has corrupted and twisted and broken us. [00:38:07] Guess who can fix that. [00:38:10] Guess who can provide forgiveness. Guess who can provide redemption. Guess whose mighty hand and outstretched harm can deliver us, not only from a Sisera and a Moabite king, but from the devil himself. [00:38:25] Guess who can take the curse out of death and turn it into a passing, into glory. [00:38:32] Guess who can take a dead body and raise it from the dead? [00:38:38] The Lord. [00:38:40] And this is what the Lord does. Beloved, consider what great things he has done for you. [00:38:48] Hear the witness of the work of God throughout history, leading all the way up to David's greater son and the establishment of him on the throne. Consider him and put your faith in Him. And not only will he save you from your enemies and deliver you from these things, but he'll even deliver you from your own unrighteousness. [00:39:13] He'll justify you, calling, give imputing to you the righteousness of Christ so that you might stand before God without fear. He'll sanctify you more and more, working in your life, conforming you to his image, growing you, making you more and more holy. And one day he will glorify you so that then one day there will be no more sin, no more death, normal, no more sorrow. [00:39:43] Who can do this? [00:39:45] God can do this. [00:39:48] God can do this. How do you know? Well, you can consider the great things that he has done to serve the Lord, to fear him above all, to give him our heart and lives. We must put our faith in Christ. [00:40:03] We can't pursue service to the Lord apart from the Lord, can we? [00:40:09] We can't pursue service and love of him while chasing other things. [00:40:16] No, we pursue our love toward him by first putting our faith in Him. [00:40:25] So there's several applications. Let me mention four. Just as we close number one. There's of course, a great warning here. Do not go another way. [00:40:38] It only leads to emptiness. Apart from Christ and His work, apart from our being established in Him. You don't get half the reward. You get emptiness. You get nothing. [00:40:53] And worse, we receive judgment. [00:40:58] We are swept away by the power of God. People think they can serve God apart from God. People think they can do the right things and pursue the right ends apart from Him. It's foolishness and pride. It's a warning. Don't go that way. But instead receive what the Lord gives to you in Jesus. [00:41:23] The second thing I'll mention is an encouragement to you. You cannot fail. It's impossible to fail when you trust in the powerful, saving mercy of God in Christ. He's that strong, he's that powerful, he's that merciful, he's that good, and he loves you that much. [00:41:44] You cannot fail because he cannot fail. And your hope is in Him. [00:41:53] The third is an exhortation to you to meditate on his power. [00:42:00] Meditate on his power to protect you, to enable you. Meditate on the purposes of which he has spoken, on his desire for his name, on his desire to fulfill what pleases Him. [00:42:15] Meditate on the strength he has. Meditate on the actions he has taken. Consider the great things that he has done, especially the work of Christ on the cross, his resurrection from the dead and his now serving us as our King and promising to come again. [00:42:37] The last thing I'll mention is an exhortation to boldness. [00:42:43] Because of who the Lord is and because of who we are called to be, because of all that he has done, we ought to serve the Lord boldly, with our whole heart, with confidence in Him. You are a child of the King. [00:43:01] You belong to him. You're in his kingdom. You have been delivered from darkness and you are someone different now. If your faith is in Christ, be bold about it. Have confidence in it. Don't be bashful in the strength of his power. Don't be bashful and half hearted in fighting your enemies. When you fight in his strength and put on his armor, you have everything that you could possibly need. Be confident, be strong, be bold in service to the Lord. Give your whole heart into him. And we could add, enjoy it while you're at it. [00:43:43] As we glorify God, it's not only a battle, it's a battle with some pleasure. Have you ever played a video game where you're just killing it? Have you ever entered into a sport where you're just. Everything you hit is going well? Or maybe you've imagined this if you're not so sporty. [00:44:01] This is what it's like to serve the Lord in faith. It doesn't mean we don't fall. It doesn't mean that we don't stumble. And there's repentance for that. But it does mean that we can do. We can serve the Lord with joy. [00:44:20] We can serve the Lord with joy, not being threatened by trials that may come. [00:44:27] Because he who is who he says he is and we are who we are because of what he has done. [00:44:34] Let's pray. [00:44:36] Our Heavenly Father, we pray to you now. And we ask that you would help us to fear you above all other things, to serve you faithfully with all our heart, and to do everything that we do with an eye towards you, our Father, our King, and our Savior. [00:44:59] We praise you and thank you that you are a mighty God and that you have proven this over and over again in the leadership of Samuel in the sign that he brings here in the. In the storm. [00:45:15] And you're rescuing your people from the hand of their enemies and in delivering your people into the hand of their enemies. In all of this, we see that no human king or kingdom, no nothing, even the heights of human power, begin to compare you. [00:45:39] You prove this, of course, to us through the work of Jesus in which you use the death of the King to accomplish the coming of your kingdom. Who alone but you could do a mighty thing like this. [00:45:56] Lord, we look to you now and we ask that at the beginning of this new year that you would fill us with encouragement and confidence and boldness in hearing of the good news of your love for us. [00:46:11] Lord, you have chosen a people for yourself and you have offered that salvation. [00:46:19] Offer that salvation to us. You've promised to all that anyone who puts their faith in you will be saved. And so this morning, Lord, as we bewail our own sins, as we mourn the ways in which we have chased after empty and vain things, even sinful, awful things, we put our confidence not in ourselves, but in you, in your promises and in your love. [00:46:51] We ask that you would instill this message deep within our hearts and that you would cause us to walk in your ways, to obey your statutes, and to do so with great joy. [00:47:04] And Lord, as we heard earlier from Matthew and Jesus words there, we ask that these good works that you produce in us and that we delight in and that we pursue would be to the glory of your name. And that others would see those good works and glorify you. They would see your works in us and recognize there is a people of God. There is a people that God has worked in, have changed, and has delivered from sin and death and the devil. Lord, we ask that you would do this all for your great Name's sake, because it has pleased you. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.