Serve the Lord

July 1, 2012

Lesson: 1 Samuel 7:3–11

Key Verse: 1 Samuel 7:3

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Introduction

A favorite song of God’s congregations is Psalm 100. It begins with the words, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.” What is this “joyful noise” about? The second verse calls us to “Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” Our entrance into the presence of the Lord is one of serving Him with gladness and joy. Psalm 95 emphasizes the truth that our Lord is ‘Yahshua” our salvation: “O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” Our service, our worship, our praise and our obedience, are always done in the presence of the Lord.

Our service to our Lord is as a bond-servant. The epistle to Philippi begins, “Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ.” The epistle to Titus records, “Paul a servant of God.” James in his epistle wrote, “James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The same Greek word, ‘doulos,’ is used, translated ‘servant,’ meaning slave, bond-servant. The servants of Christ uniting themselves to their Master, binding themselves to Him who has chosen them to serve Him. This attachment as a slave tells of how close they are to their Lord. However, this attachment is made even closer and most wonderful in these words of Christ Jesus: “Henceforth I call you not servants: for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:15–16).

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God’s Servant Samuel—1 Samuel 7:3–6

The Philistines had captured the ark of the Lord, and, in so doing, had brought upon them the wrath of the Lord: “And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore of men: and the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter” (1 Sam. 6:19). The men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?” (6:20). They sent messengers to Kirjath-jearim to come and get it. “And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and the house of Israel lamented after the Lord” (1 Sam. 72).

Then Samuel, as God’s servant, spoke to “the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” If the people of God repent sincerely from the depths of their heart, and show that repentance in putting away their worship of the gods of the Philistines, showing their willingness to serve the Lord only, then they would experience the deliverance of the Lord. True repentance reveals a faith which the Lord alone can give to His people. Scripture teaches us of this repentance of faith: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:6–10).

The children of Israel obeyed the Lord and “put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.” Samuel spoke to the people saying, “Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord.” Samuel would pray in the presence of the people to the Lord, and the people would respond to the Lord in His presence: “they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. and Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.” M. Henry wrote that “They made a public confession: We have sinned against the Lord, so giving glory to God and taking shame to themselves. And, if we thus confess our sins, we shall find our God faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Samuel judged them at that time in Mizpeh, that is, he assured them, in God’s name, of the pardon of their sins, upon their repentance, and that God was reconciled to them.”

Discussion: What is required of us by the Lord when we sin against Him?

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Victory in the Lord—1 Samuel 7:7–11

The lords of the Philistines heard about the gathering of Israel to Mizpeh: “the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel.” They thought that Israel was gathering together for war, and they would attack first. “And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.” It is easy to forget that our Lord is on our side, and it is He who will have the victory. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who advances His Kingdom, builds His congregations, and the gates of hell will not prevail, not matter how we see the enemy as giants. “But we may be in God’s way and yet meet with distress; nay, when sinners begin to repent and reform, they must expect that Satan will muster all his force against them, and set his instruments on work to the utmost to oppose and discourage them” (M. Henry).

“And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.” We have an advocate to whom we must go, knowing that He will save us from the enemy, whether it be within us or without us. This is the promise of our Lord: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John5:4–5). From the hand of the Lord victory was assured. The Lord’s servant Samuel knew this and He “took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: And Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him.”

Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. The wages of sin is death, an eternal darkness from which we were delivered: “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:6–7). Paul testifies by the Spirit to this victory: The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:56–58).

The grace of the Lord is shown to Samuel while he was offering up a sacrifice and prayer: “the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomforted them; and they were smitten before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Beth-car.” The Lord is our Commander, the Governor who builds His people up, and goes forward to the win the victory for us. We are those who follow Him, to be a part of that victory; He paves the way. If we take the initiative, we do so in darkness; it is not our will but His will that will be done. He is always before us and with us, saying, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Discussion: How is Christ our victory?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2012 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.