We're going to have a short reading
today. It's 1 Samuel, chapter 25. And actually, we're only going
to read one verse. 1 Samuel, chapter 25, and verse
1. So, I've kind of said that we've
had some fairly long readings in recent weeks for our young
people, and you've been very patient in listening as we've
gone through the chapter. But today we're on the other
side of that balance, and just one verse. 1 Samuel, chapter
25, and verse 1. And Samuel died, and all the
Israelites were gathered together and lamented him, and buried
him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down
to the wilderness of Paran. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. One verse is inserted here in
1 Samuel chapter 25, informing us of the death of Samuel. And his passing into the presence
of the Lord was a great loss to the children of Israel. Over
the past few weeks, we have been following David and the way in
which he has been pursued, it seems, relentlessly by Saul. And of course, we remember that
Samuel was God's representative. He was God's judge in the land
of Israel at this time. We haven't heard of him for quite
a long time, but that is because we've been following the lives
of other people. Now Samuel's death is recorded
and it probably took place between this time when David had taken
that piece of Saul's garment while he was asleep in the cave
and Saul had gone away and left David somewhat at peace. Then news came of the death of
Samuel at Ramah and his passing into the presence of the Lord,
as we've said, was a great loss. Samuel had been faithful. He had been faithful to the people. He had been faithful to the nation
of Israel for many years. From the time that he was dedicated
to the Lord's service as a child by Hannah, his mother, in the
days of Eli, Much, of course, had happened
in these decades that had passed. And we've seen much of that as
we've been studying and reading together. There were periods
of war with the Philistines, and there were periods of peace.
And during these periods, Samuel served the Lord and ministered
to the people. He was displeased when, as an
old man, the leaders of the children of Israel rejected him in his
role of judge and demanded instead a king be appointed by Samuel
so that Israel would be like the nation's roundabout. This
the Lord permitted, despite Samuel's protests, because he had a plan
to bring forth a greater king, not David, David was indeed a
greater king than Saul, but the greatest king of all, the one
who is king of kings. the Lord Jesus Christ, and it
was necessary for Israel to have a monarchy because the Lord Jesus
Christ would come from the line of David, that royal line, and
though David was a great king, Christ was his greater son. We have learned that Samuel anointed
both Saul and later David as King of Israel. Samuel was a
brave and faithful prophet who had cause to rebuke Saul for
his disobedience in the matter of Agag, King of the Amalekites. And he told Saul to his face,
Thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath sought him a man
after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be
captain over his people. Saul knew that he was going to
lose the kingdom because of his disobedience to one that was
his neighbour. And for that reason, Saul hated
David. He perceived that David was that
one whom God had chosen to replace him. And so he tried to kill
David. The old prophet Samuel, he was
probably around 80 years of age when he died, we're not explicitly
told. But this old prophet did not
live to see David take the throne. Saul would die, not too long,
we're not exactly sure again, but probably only a couple of
years from now. We'll come to that on another
occasion. But David was not yet on the
throne, but Samuel knew that David would soon become king
and he knew that the people he loved, the people that he had
served, would be blessed by a king who trusted in the Lord and who
was a man after God's own heart. And I'm sure that this must have
comforted Samuel in his old age as he prayed for God's blessing
upon the people of Israel and worried about their well-being
as a nation under Saul. We learn from this verse that
Samuel was mourned by all Israel. Many appreciated his service
as a servant of the Lord, including the school of the prophets over
whom Samuel had presided. This was a group of students
and disciples, men who had faith in the Lord and who carried on
the service and tradition of Samuel and ministered in turn
to the Lord's people amongst the children of Israel. You see,
even although Samuel was passing, the Lord never leaves himself
without a witness and a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ and
a witness to the gospel of grace. One of those prophets probably
was a man called Gad and we read about him a few weeks ago. He
was likely one of the prophets who followed Samuel and it seems
now that he accompanied David and his men. Samuel was buried at Ramah at
his own house. It says in his own house but
probably in a field or in a garden close by his house. He was buried
at Ramah nevertheless and he was recognised, we are told. in the Book of Psalms as being
a great prophet and a mighty prophet of the Lord. Indeed,
he is collected with Moses and Aaron in Psalm 99, verse 6, as
a man of faith, peculiarly honoured by the Lord. There we read of
Samuel being among them that call upon God's name. They called upon the Lord and
he answered them. That's a lovely thought and a
lovely epitaph with which to observe the passing of Samuel. He called upon God's name and
the Lord heard him and answered him. We're not told how Samuel
died. The Holy Spirit has thought it
enough simply to record his death without adding anything more
to the account. All we have is this single verse. But what this does do is remind
us that death comes to all. Samuel was an old man. We have
followed his history from being a very young child. But death
comes to all. Hebrews 9, verse 27 tells us,
it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. We do not know when this appointment
must be kept. neither for ourselves nor for
others. Some will be old like Samuel,
some will be young, and some will be in the middle years of
their lives. However, we do know that Samuel
died trusting in the Lord and looking forward to the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The Holy Spirit tells
us that in Hebrews. It tells us in Hebrews, or he
tells us in Hebrews, that he died in faith. That is, he died as he had lived. trusting the Lord for salvation. And this is how all the faithful
remnant amongst the Old Testament people died. As they lived, so
they died, waiting for the consolation of Israel, waiting for the coming
of Christ. We've In the past months and
years, we've covered a lot of these characters. Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, the Patriarchs, Moses and Aaron, the prophets, the
judges, they all believed in the Lord. And I have no doubt
that there were many other believers amongst them whose names we do
not know, who looked with an eye of faith to the Lord Jesus
Christ and spoke of him one to another and to all who looked
for redemption in Jerusalem. So too, men and women, boys and
girls in the New Testament age and today who have faith, trust
in the same Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and for their
heavenly hope. We look with faith to the same
Christ as these Old Testament saints looked. We believe in
the same Christ. We trust the same Christ. And
whether it's Old Testament or New Testament or right up to
date, it is the same faith that unites us to the Lord Jesus Christ
and unites us with one another. Faith is such a precious, precious
thing. People misunderstand faith in
Jesus Christ and they misunderstand and misrepresent faith in the
Gospel of God. They imagine, for example, that
they can have faith if and when they like. that it is something
that they can decide and get for themselves as an act of their
own will, whether they choose to or whether they don't, that
it's all up to them. But that is not so. Faith is
a gift from God, a gift He gives particularly and a gift which
He gives sparingly. Paul tells the Thessalonians
what may be obvious but is nevertheless true. He says, all men have not
faith. If we do have faith in Christ,
again I say, it is a precious, precious thing, highly to be
valued, highly to be cherished. When Samuel died, we're told,
David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. Perhaps he wanted a time of peace
and quiet. Maybe he wanted to reflect on
his old friend and what he had learned from Samuel during his
lifetime. Maybe it was to worship the Lord. and anticipate what Samuel had
foretold about him becoming king. Or perhaps it was just that he
knew deep down that Saul would come after him again and that
he had to be as far from his enemy as possible. Whatever it
was, and we will find that David was right if that is what he
thought, David went away into the wilderness and there he mused
and contemplated upon such things. Let me just make a couple of
quick applications if I can. When we are young, we usually
don't think much about dying. unless it is that someone very
close to us dies. Then we learn what death means
and what a hole their loss can make in our lives. I'm supposed to be speaking to
the young people here, so let me mention It is likely that
you young people who are listening will outlive many of these older
folk who are sharing this moment with you now. Like David, you
may live to see the death of Samuel. And you may live to see
the death of those that you love and care for. The Bible tells
us, the memory of the just is blessed. And I hope that you
will know that it is a blessing to have known and to have been
the recipient of the prayers and the attention of those who
have cared for you in the faith. The memory of the faithful is
blessed. When someone that we love dies
and leaves us behind, it is a blessed thing to know that they are in
heaven with their Saviour and happy in glory, though we are
sad at their death and their passing into eternity. But what about us? Do we have
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we desire faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ? Faith is a gift, but here is
a wonderful thing. If we desire this gift, the Lord
will give it to us. A wise man once said, Trust in
the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him
and he shall direct thy paths. May the Lord give me, may the
Lord give you that precious faith that was enjoyed by Samuel, that
was enjoyed by David and all the Lord's people in all ages. May he give us faith so that
when our time comes to leave this world, we may be ready,
we may do so in the sure knowledge our new home in heaven awaits. There, in glory, if we have faith,
if we are the Lord's people, we shall meet Samuel and David
and all the Lord's people. We shall be reunited with our
believing friends and family. And most importantly, we shall
be in the presence of our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The
old preacher Robert Hawker wrote the following words on this passage
and I just want to leave it with you and then we'll be finished. He wrote, precious faith, so
may it be my portion to live and so to die. clasping Jesus
in my arms, and dropping this tabernacle, this body of flesh,
in the moment while his name is the last word quivering on
my lips, and he himself in my heart. Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his saints, and precious in the sight
of saints is the death of each other. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to us today. Amen.