The story in our passage for tonight is what happens when the Spirit of the LORD turns Saul into another man---We sometimes talk about how the first Joshua resembles the second Joshua -our Lord Jesus-. Perhaps we should also talk about how the first Saul resembles the second Saul -the apostle Paul-.- -Both have a remarkable encounter with God -this Saul with the Holy Spirit - in Acts it will be the exalted Lord Jesus- And both, it could be said, were turned into another man---Now, at first blush, 1 Samuel 10-12 sounds awfully pro-Saul. Israel sinned in rejecting the LORD as king, but Saul seems to do everything right- In other words, our author is an honest man. He admits that Saul started out well. But he also hints at what is to come...

At least - it sounds odd to us- Shouldn't the movement be from sorrow to joy-- Shouldn't we go from death to resurrection--- Shouldn't every song have a happy ending-----No.--What do you sing when you are in the middle of a horrible part of the story-- What do you sing when you are poor and needy-- When the world, the flesh, and the devil are trying to destroy you----In the middle of your pain and your affliction, you can sing Psalm 40...

The request for a king was simply the logical outcome of the failure of Israel. Israel had failed to be and to do what God had called them to be and to do.--It wasn't the request for a king that was the problem. For that matter, it wasn't even the way that they asked for a king.--It was the fact that with the exception of Joshua's generation, the people of Israel had continued to forsake the LORD more and more in each generation...

Samuel's sons do not follow in their father's steps.--We have seen this problem of the -next generation- before. Eli's sons had become like Canaanite priests - treating the women who served at the tent like prostitutes. Now Samuel's sons become like Canaanite judges - taking bribes and perverting justice.--The prophet Jeremiah would say generations later- -Stand at the crossroads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is- and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.- -Jeremiah 6-16---What does he mean by -the ancient paths--- In the following chapter, Jeremiah warns against thinking of the temple as a magical talisman- -Do not trust in these deceptive words- 'this is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD' -in other words - the same magical thinking as in 1 Samuel 4 - when they thought that the ark would save them...---And yes, Jeremiah is referring to 1 Samuel 4, as he makes clear in Jer 7-11-12 - -Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes-- Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. Go now to my place at Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel...---The ancient paths are the ways - the word - and the Law - of the LORD...

Psalm 39 says, -I am mute- I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it.- I am afflicted and in trouble - because of your stroke. Sometimes God puts you in a situation where you have nothing to say - indeed, he calls you to say nothing.--Sometimes, if you say anything, you will make things worse. David realizes this. Sometimes the way we engage in spiritual warfare is through silence.--So David is silent. As Ambrose said, -He had no wish whatever to do the will of him who ruins one's peace of mind.---This runs contrary to everything we think. We tend to think that if we say something - we can fix things---But in our anger, our tendency is to react with bitter words. And sometimes there are no words that can make a situation better...

-Here I raise my Ebenezer-. How did an obscure location in 1 Samuel become part of one of the most famous hymns of the church----Tonight we are concluding our story of Ebenezer and Ichabod. The Battle of Ebenezer opened chapter 4 and a different Ebenezer closes our passage, while Ichabod - no glory - well described the condition of Israel when the Ark of the Covenant was taken captive...

We saw last time that Psalm 37 is the Psalter's version of the Sermon on the Mount. -Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.---Psalm 38 is a very different sort of song.--Psalm 38 is a lament.

What does it mean that Psalm 37 is -Of David--- Well, watch the first person singular---Verse 25- -I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.---Verse 35- -I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. But he passed away, and behold, he was no more- though I sought him, he could not be found.---That's the voice of David - David is speaking to Israel. Israel is singing this song in and with David.--Psalm 37 is the Psalter's version of the Sermon on the Mount- -Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.-

1 Samuel 4-7 is held together by the story of the two Ebenezers. Ebenezer means -stone of help- - as Samuel will say in chapter 7, verse 12 - -Till now the LORD has helped us.---Israel had encamped at the first Ebenezer in chapter 4. The first Ebenezer was in the coastal plain near the foothills of Ephraim. That was the place where Israel was defeated, where the ark was captured, and where the two sons of Eli were killed.--That does not sound much like a stone of help---And in chapter 7, Samuel will set up a stone in Benjamin, near Mizpah, and call its name -Ebenezer.- -stone of help- -Till now the LORD has helped us.---Samuel is teaching his people that God's triumph comes through our weakness. The LORD brought judgment upon his priests and upon his people at Ebenezer.--What kind of help is that----- If God helps us by turning us over to our foes - what kind of help is that-----But his purpose is to bring Israel through suffering to glory...

Some think that the first line of verse 1 belongs properly to chapter 3. After all, there is no other reference to Samuel in chapter 4.- -But this is why I preached on 1 Samuel 4-7 in a single sermon last time- If you turn over to chapter 7, verse 3, we hear how the word of Samuel came to all Israel. -And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, -if you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods----And then notice chapter 7, verse 12, -Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer, for he said, 'Till now the LORD has helped us.'---In chapter 4, there are the two battles of Ebenezer - where the LORD fought against Israel - and Samuel is silent. In chapter 7, Samuel will finally speak -many years later- - and a new Ebenezer will be established -many miles away from the Ebenezer of ch 4-.