May it please Almighty God to
bless our souls this evening as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's turn to the first book
of Samuel, the third chapter, and we'll read verse 18. The third chapter in the first
book of Samuel, chapter 18. And Samuel told him every wit
and heard nothing from him. And he said, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. It's very wonderful and very
encouraging to see how the grace of God can truly influence people. And in this case we see the grace
of God influencing Samuel and we see the grace of God influencing
Eli. And it's a wonderful blessing
to be able to observe this. This is really a very lovely
chapter, this third chapter in the first book of Samuel. which
speaks to us about God calling and speaking to Samuel, very
clearly calling him. And of course, as we read together,
at this time Samuel did not know the Lord. So he wasn't aware
that it was God who was speaking to him, that God that was calling
him. And there were those three occasions
when God spoke very simple, very simple words, just called him
by his name. And each time Samuel thought
it was Eli that had been calling him. And each time Eli had to
respond and say, I called not my son, lie down again. Until the fourth time and Eli
then said to Samuel, Go lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee,
that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel
went, and lay down in his place, and the Lord came, and stood,
and called, as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel answered,
Speak, for thy servant heareth. He had no idea, of course, what
God was going to speak to him. But God told him what he was
going to do to Eli's sons and Eli's house. And it was very
solemn words. Very solemn words. Some of you
obviously observe what God has spoken The words came into his
heart, because the Lord said, Behold, I will do a thing in
Israel at which both the ears of every one that heareth it
shall tingle. In that day I will perform against
Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house. When I
begin, I will also make an end. And so God told Samuel what was
going to occur and it wasn't good news at all for Eli's household,
not at all. Anyway he heard it all and he
absorbed it all and he went and lay down again and we're told
that he lay until the morning and opened the doors of the house
of the Lord which he did normally and Samuel feared to show Eli
the vision. Then Eli called Samuel and said,
Samuel, my son? And he answered, Here am I. And he said, What is the thing
that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not
from me. God do so to thee, and more also. if thou hide anything from me
of all the things that is said unto thee. So there we have the
scene set. The scene set was that God had
spoken to Samuel. Eli knew that God had spoken
to Samuel. He wanted to know what the Lord
had said. And then we read, and what we
see here is the grace in the heart of Samuel, in being honest
to declare exactly what had been said to him and we also see the
grace in Elias heart to receive the words that Samuel said and
so we read in very simple words and Samuel told him every wit
and hid nothing from him You know that's a great blessing
to be honest in the things of God. So often we tend to try
and water things down. We don't want to make people
think too badly of us. So therefore we don't perhaps
say all the truth, we say a bit of it. And we think we've done
our duty. Well, here was Samuel before
Eli, and we're told he told him every wit and hid nothing from
him. Honesty is a great blessing. It's not easy, to be honest,
especially when we think that our honesty might offend people. No doubt Samuel perhaps wondered
whether The things that he'd been told would be offensive
to Eli. But whatever the situation, he
was faithful and he did speak and say what he'd been told. He didn't hide anything. And
then we see the response of Eli. It's good to recognise such a
response. try and put ourselves in that
position. If somebody had come and told
us how really bad we'd been and as a consequence what terrible
things were going to come upon us, perhaps we would find it
very difficult to be gracious. Perhaps we'd try and argue and
think it wasn't just And it wasn't fair. Well, we read here the
response of Eli. He said, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. And that's a gracious response.
My friend, what a blessing for you and me if we're able to respond
in the same way to submit to the will and purpose of Almighty
God. It is the Lord. He was moved,
wasn't he, by the Spirit of God to recognise that that which
had been spoken to Samuel emanated from God. Perhaps we might say,
well it had Plenty of opportunity to recognise that because four
times God had called Samuel. So it was clear he wanted to
speak to Samuel. He was going to speak to Samuel.
And Samuel was going to hear, which he did. And Samuel responded
in that way, in honesty. And so we have Eli then saying,
it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. We need a lot of grace, don't
we, in our lives today to submit to the will of God. And yet how true it is that God's
way must be good and God's way must be right. And we must realise that that
which God does is for his people's eternal good. Remember, God deals
with his church in love to their souls. There's nothing vicious or nasty
with the way that God deals with us. It's in love to our souls. So it's good sometimes if we
find the Lord speaking or bringing us into situations. Perhaps we
ponder and we think, Why has this come upon me? Well, in Eli's
case, he knew why it had come upon him. Because Samuel had
told him, because God had told him, what he was going to bring
upon Eli for the sins which his house had committed. And so,
Eli was fully aware of the situation, also aware of the consequences. But what was the result? He was
willing to submit himself, submit his life to God's dealings with
him. He wasn't rebellious. He wasn't
hard-hearted. And what we do know is, of course,
that in God's work, all things work together for our good. When I say that, of course, I'm
referring to the Church of God, I'm referring to the life of
the individuals in the Church of God, because God deals with
his people in love. And Eli had not followed the
right way. therefore God was to deal with
him and sadly deal drastically with his sons so they lost their
lives they lived evil life and they lost their lives and here
was the words of Samuel telling Eli about it And Eli blessed
with that grace to come and say, it is the Lord. He didn't prevaricate. He didn't argue. He didn't say,
well, that's not fair. And I think there's some mitigating
circumstances. He accepted what Samuel said. And he then went further and
said, let him do. what seemeth him good. It's wonderful if God gives us
grace to submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God, to realise
that we are unworthy sinners and we don't deserve any notice.
If we analyse our thoughts, our words, our actions, we'll find
we fall far short of the standards set in the Word of God. We're guilty, unworthy sinners,
and how wonderful it is if God's grace shines into our heart. And that grace reveals to us
His mercy. His mercy. It did, surely in
the case that we referred to this morning in David's life,
when he'd sinned so grossly, committed adultery with Bathsheba,
arranged for the murder of her husband. Terrible things. And yet we see how God had mercy
upon him. God had mercy upon him and really,
in a very similar way, David responds to the same way that
Eli did. Because he tells us, against
thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. My friends, it's good when you
and I are convicted of our sin before God. And we don't try
and make excuses. There's no point in trying to
make excuses to God. Because God knows about us. He knows exactly what we thought
and what we said and what we've done. Nothing can be hidden from
the all-seeing eye of Almighty God. and therefore what a blessing
it is if the Holy Spirit convinces us and David in this 51st Psalm
tells us so clearly his position he says, behold thou desirest
truth in the inward parts that means in our very heart it's
not what we appear to be to other people We can appear to be a
wonderful person. We can appear to be a very upright
Christian. But you see, God looks at our
heart and how terrible it would be if our heart and all our thoughts
were revealed to everybody. I'm sure we would sink under
the shame and weight of that situation. And so says David,
behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden
part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. We have words like this
recorded for our instruction today so that we're not allowed
to wriggle and get out of a situation which condemns us We have to
stand guilty before God. And as we stand guilty before
God, we're brought to that willing spirit, let him do what seemeth
him good. You may remember another time
when in David's life, right towards the end of his life, he numbered
the people. There was no need to number the
people. Why did he number the people? For the pride of his
heart. He wanted to know what a great
lot of people he got. Well, God was not pleased. And
God gave him three options of punishment. He didn't know what
to do. And he told the Prophet, it's
better to fall into the hand of God, and then into effect,
make a decision himself. So God didn't relieve him from
anything. He had to suffer. And as we,
if you know the account, he had to endure to the whole people,
pestilence, which was upon them, all because of the sin of pride. Very subtle. And yet, you see,
he was brought to say, it's better to fall into the hand of God
than into the hand of man. And that's really exactly what
Eli says here. Let him do what seemeth him good. You see, God is just. but he's
very gracious in his dealings he's very merciful in his dealings
he was with David because the 51st of Psalm of course doesn't
refer to the number of the people but nonetheless he comes to that
place of confession and that's a wonderful blessing when God
comes and grants us confession for our sins. When we are condemned
by it, we may perhaps try and hide the sin, and then we realise
we can't hide the sin, because God knows all about it. What
a mercy then when we come and confess our sins. And the Word
of God tells us, glorious words, if we confess our sins, God is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. That's a wonderful truth, isn't
it? That shows the greatness and
glory of God in not dealing with us as our sins deserve. He didn't
deal with David as his sins deserve, and therefore he comes and he
asks He says, purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me
and I shall be whiter than snow. He realized he wanted to be,
he needed to be washed, washed from all his sin. And he was
able to come and plead for that forgiveness and plead that he
might know he was washed. Again, it's wonderful if you
and I are convicted by the power of God for sin and are led to
the Saviour, led to pray for forgiveness, led to pray to be
washed, to be cleansed. And he goes on, make me to hear
joy and gladness and the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins and
blot out all mine iniquities. It's a good and wonderful blessing
to know that God is dealing with us as his children. He's correcting us in love. He's blessing us with confession. He's blessing us with repentance. And so, as we might follow down
this 51st Psalm that David, under the blessed Spirit of God, wrote
to realize his desire, and he says, then created me a clean
heart. If we look into our hearts, I'm
sure we realize how unclean they are. It's just really like the
lepers of old who when they had this contagious disease of leprosy
and of course sin is very similar as a contagious disease and they
had to go around with a hand on the mouth crying out unclean
unclean and so we are unclean through sin what a mercy if we
have their desire and a prayer Like David did, creating me. Again, as I often say, real origin
is personal. He didn't look around at everybody
else and think, well, that person's worse than me and that person's
done this which I've never done. It comes before God, create in
me. A clean heart, O God, and renew
a right spirit within me. How often you and I can have
a wrong spirit. a wrong spirit. And yet, here
was David praying for a right spirit. You know, a right spirit
is one that abases ourselves and brings honour and glory to
God. Cast me not away from thy presence
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. he was concerned about
his soul he was concerned that God wouldn't cast him away and
he wouldn't take away his Holy Spirit from him well as we look
into our own hearts I wonder if we have that same desire that
living desire that blessed desire and he cries out then restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. David had known the joy of God's
salvation. He'd sinned and he'd lost really
that joy. And now he was praying that God
would restore it to him. It's the same today. We can rejoice
in the joy of salvation. And then we can turn our back
upon God. Then we can walk contrary to God. And the Word of God tells
us, if ye walk contrary to me, I will walk contrary to you. I don't think you and I can somehow
escape God's wrath or God's judgment and uphold me with thy free spirit. And then, you see, praise for
these blessings He prays for these revelations and is then
able to say, if the Lord grants them to him, then will I teach
transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
He would be able to explain how God had had mercy upon him, how
God had loved him with everlasting love, and lead them to the blessed
work of the Saviour to be washed and cleansed. And so, Eli comes
and says, it is the Lord. Again, it's wonderful when the
Lord, with his power, shows to us It's God that's dealing with
us. It's God that has caused us to
be corrected. It's God that's spoken to us
and perhaps brought us up with a start and we realised we thought
we were pleasing God. In actual fact we were pleasing
ourselves. It is the Lord. It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. And we have here the account
of Eli. But as we read on, of course,
in the Word of God, we have that great and wonderful account of
the Lord Jesus Christ. who was wonderfully willing to
do his Father's will, whatever the cost. And the cost to the
Lord Jesus Christ was exceedingly great. And yet, the Savior says
in the 22nd chapter of Luke, He tells us this, He says, Father, if thou be willing, Remove
this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. Submission to God's will. What
a blessing that is. And what a blessing still today,
if you and I find ourselves in that same position, blessed position,
humble position, and realize that it is the power of God that
gives us the willingness to follow that pattern and to realize how
wonderful it is. And we have a very similar statement
in the little book of James. where James says in the fourth
chapter and seventh verse submit yourselves therefore to God and
the previous verse tells us but he giveth more grace and that's
wonderful isn't it don't forget grace is the unmerited favor
of God I think that God gives to unworthy sinners who don't
deserve anything his grace, but he giveth more grace, more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth
the proud, and giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves
therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from
you. What a mercy, therefore, to come
and submit ourselves to God, just like Eli did here when he
said, let him do what seemeth him good. What a mercy it is
for you and me today to be blessed with that submission. Submit
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will
flee from you. Draw nigh to God and he will
draw nigh unto you. And that's a great statement. And I know it's true because
I've proved it myself. How wonderful it is to be given
grace to draw near to God. You may think, I can't do it. You may think it's impossible.
Well, God gives you strength. He gives you grace in whatever
situation you might find yourself. And in my situation, I was ill
at the time. And the devil said, well, you
needn't worry about that. You were just too ill. So don't
worry about drawing near to God. Well, God gave me strength, and
God gave me grace so to do. And I did draw near to God. I remember getting out of bed.
I was out in Sri Lanka at the time. And God came and blessed
me in a wonderful way. Draw near to God, and He will
draw nigh to you. What a mercy then, to recognize
these truths. You see, don't listen to the
devil. The devil will always come and
say, well, of course you can't do that. Well, you know, and
I know, in and of ourselves we can't do it. But God gives grace
so that we can do it. And when God does it then, we
come and we acknowledge it's the Lord. as Eli said, it is
the Lord. And to realise in our little
lives, it is the Lord. What a mercy then. And draw nigh
to God and he will draw nigh to you. Well, we're thankful
indeed. I think that we have these great and wonderful statements
in the Word of God to encourage us. And we have so many beautiful
places in the Psalms and perhaps in no greater place of blessing
than the 107th Psalm. 107th Psalm again, a Psalm of
David and it proves to us the wonderful favour and blessing
of Almighty God. It's a wonderful account and
we should be very thankful that the Lord in his love has recorded
it. He tells us, O give thanks unto
the Lord for he is good. for His mercy endured forever. And as you read through this
psalm, you will find how that Israel so often turned their
back upon God, and yet God again and again had mercy. And we're
told, they cried unto the Lord in their trouble. They cried
unto the Lord in their trouble. And my friends, if you're left
to sin, if you're left to disobey God, that'll be a trouble. That'll
be a trouble. And what a blessing then, in
that trouble, you cry unto God. And He will look upon you and
have mercy. And this is what the psalmist
says. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses,
and He led them forth by the right way. and that right way
is when we're dealt with by God and we're humble before God and
we're willing to obey Him we're willing to do His will we're
pleased to do His will and what a mercy it is and He led them
forth by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation
and then oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and
for His wonderful works to the children of men, for he satisfieth
the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness,
such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound
in affliction and iron." We might say, well, that's me. That's
just how I feel to be, bound. in affliction and iron. And David
tells us the reason. Because they rebelled against
the words of God and contemned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore He brought down their
heart with labour. They fell down and there was
none to help. Helpless we are in that kind
of situation. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness, and the shadow of death and break
their bands in sunder. Yeah, those that were bound in
affliction and iron. He breaks the bands in sunder
because of his great love and his great mercy. And so, the
psalmist goes on and says, oh, that men would praise the Lord
for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men. So if God has dealt with you
and me, In love to our souls, how humbling it is to realise
that we can come and be delivered and brought into a wealthy place
and then to truly praise the Lord for his goodness. This is the life of a believer. This is the favour the Church
of God enjoys. What a blessing, therefore, for
you and me today to truly be blessed with this situation and
recognise what Eli said. It is the Lord. It is the Lord. As you and I come under condemnation,
to realise it is the Lord. The Lord's bringing me up. The Lord's instructing me. The
Lord's guiding me. The Lord's blessing me. and to
be brought with this humble submission let him do what seemeth him good
and always come back to the blessed life of the Saviour always remember
his willingness to do his Father's will and he knew of course what
that entailed death upon the cross tremendous agony but willing
to do his Father's will and my friends our life on this earth
is but a vapour doesn't matter very much therefore what we have
to endure in this life we have to realise there is an eternity
of glory before us we'll make amends for all and our sufferings
then which will appear so great perhaps now, will be nothing,
as we are found in the presence of our glorious Saviour, the
One who paid the price to take away all our sins, to redeem
our souls through that great valuable payment of His precious
blood. May we ponder these things and
rejoice in such an account and be able to recognize the importance
of them. And he said, it is the Lord.
Don't rebel when the Lord's hand appears to be against us. Be
able to come and say like Eli, it is the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth him good.