Waiting upon the Lord (Quality: Average)

[0:00] In the first book of Samuel, chapter 9, and the latter part of the 27th verse.

[0:11] The first book of Samuel, chapter 9, the latter part of verse 27. But stand thou still a while, that I may show thee the word of God.

[0:34] Stand thou still a while, that I may show thee the word of God. It is declared that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.

[1:00] That day unto day showeth speech, and night unto night knowledge. And that there is no tongue, nor speech, where this voice is not heard.

[1:23] God is everywhere. He is to be viewed in the wonders of his creation. He is to be viewed in the wonders of the history of mankind.

[1:40] And he is to be viewed especially in that which relates unto his own word. Yes, the Lord of the Lord is perfect.

[1:54] Converting the soul. The statutes of the Lord are right. Making wise the simple.

[2:10] And in our meditation upon this caution this morning, we noted. In one or two particulars, how that God does indeed hold the helm.

[2:23] In all that transpires in the histories of men. Whether they be men of God, or whether they be unbelievers.

[2:35] Still he works according to the inscrutable mystery of his own wisdom and will. And I want, as the Lord may help me tonight to pursue the subject a little further.

[2:54] And even as we have so looked into this chapter, and enumerated one or two things previously concerning it unto you, I want to look at it likewise in connection with the chapter which we have read in your hearing tonight.

[3:17] For in both, there is the same demonstration of the hidden wisdom of God and the outworkings of his own divine purpose and mind.

[3:31] And we see that in all the incidents and the circumstances that so operate, there is a controlling mind. Yes, that which relates to his workings may be hidden from us in the fact that they are unseen and unknown by us.

[3:55] Behind it all, in that wherein he has so created all things, there is the supporting power of his word, whereby all those things are upheld.

[4:07] He has so created the world in vain. He purposed that it should be inhabited. And he likewise purposed that in time he should reveal his glorious attributes unto us, in that wherein he would manifest himself unto us in the gift of his only begotten Son.

[4:34] Now these truths, though they are absolutely foreign unto the unbeliever, are nevertheless impressed upon the soul of the believer.

[4:52] And they remain indelible, because let us remember that if the word of God is sown in our heart, then that seed has come from him.

[5:04] And in that seed is life. And in mortality. In that seed is the mighty operation of the divine spirit.

[5:16] It is in this work that we pass through the process of regeneration. That is a mystery.

[5:30] I doubt if any man can indeed describe that which relates unto the quickening of the spirit of God within the soul of a believer.

[5:44] He knows the effect. He knows the result. I have met many people who have been so concerned because they cannot, as it were, go to a definite time or moment wherein they believe that God began to deal with them.

[6:03] Mighty hear, God dealt with you before you have a new it. God will always take the precedence in all that relates unto his wondrous works.

[6:18] And he so, by that seed, made known his quickening power within your soul and the result of his words that you became enlightened.

[6:31] And as you were enlightened, you were being taught and you were being instructed what in? In the knowledge of God. But how in is that knowledge of God attained unto within our souls?

[6:48] It is through the medium of his own divine word. It is that wherein he expresses himself unto us, both in the written word and in the incarnate word, he unfolds to us the purposes of his own will.

[7:09] What a blessed thing, and to be taught by him. And what a wonderful thing to be the recipient of such a treasure in the earth and vessel.

[7:24] Because truly the man who receives it is going to know that the power is not of him but of God. Well, now we have in our text that which is both relative unto the word of God in that wherein it has a revelation to make.

[7:48] And we have the time in which that revelation is given. Of course, I know that some of you may at once save or save was never a child of God.

[8:01] But that doesn't order the truth of the statement in the text. We may, as it were, see that which is very minute in its existence and not behold the greatness of the outcome.

[8:16] And we may know that in that wherein God so spake through Samuel unto this man that there was a declaration unto him of a purpose which was going to be accomplished though that which related unto the individual was indeed to become evil and wicked.

[8:46] That I may show you the word of God. There is a wonderful discriminating in the word of God. Notice then the control in action of the divine mind.

[9:07] Surely we have seen it in our lesson this morning. We have seen that wherein God in his purposes so directed the footsteps of Saul.

[9:19] We have seen how that it eventually led unto Samuel Samuel. And how that Samuel had been so directed by God that this man would indeed come unto him.

[9:34] And God had instructed Samuel the cost that was to be taken concerning him because this was the man whom God had sent unto him.

[9:47] God Yes God controls and that control is active it's always operating in everything that related unto this life.

[10:06] While there is and there can never be any other thought that should enter into the mind while God is then that which is relative to his own purpose and will must stand and it must be accomplished whatever others may seek to achieve in their own strength.

[10:30] Yes it is not that wherein we may so seek after these things it is that wherein God directed our steps unto that wherein we shall possess these things and therefore there is a connecting up of all the links of the events that so occurred one link at a time and the Lord forges it and he joins it unto another link and so he goes on until the whole chain is completed there is no disconnection there is no breaking away of one link from another no they are joined together by God himself and you noticed this morning in that narrative how the every link as it were was connected the asses that were lost the pursuit of

[11:46] Saul and his servant after them and that wherein notwithstanding Saul's purpose there was no overturning of his own willing the matter by that wherein his servant was so directed in his mind to remind him of the very position in which they stood that in that city there was a man of God who would be able to show them the way and how the inconsequence of this the devil could be arose over that wherein they had nothing to bring to the prophet and eventually the servant found that he had a little whereby they might indeed so have their procedure toward Samuel and then the linking up in the way they go they meet with the maidens the maidens direct them and tell them yes this is the day that he is here he wasn't always in that city but this was the day of the appointment of a feast and he had come up to bless the feast and so they still proceed on their way and before they get to the city there is

[13:15] Samuel himself coming out you see how God as it were links everything together all that which relates unto the movements of the individuals may indeed seem as it were to be taken at random but not so in that wherein God so blessedly calculates that which relates unto every incident every event the very timing itself that wherein he shall not only move one individual but move another unto that wherein the time of meeting shall indeed take place at that particular moment there is nothing left out of the divine reckoning you know no one link after another it comes to pass and it is the same in the chapter which we read tonight that wherein

[14:19] Samuel so declares unto him the word of the Lord and he tells him that which was to be his future course he said when thou art departed from me today then thou shalt find two men by racial sepulchre and when you have left them thou shalt go then and shalt come to the plain Tibor there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel and he tells him that wherein they shall be carrying certain possessions and of how they would present him with two loaves of bread and how that eventually he would come to the hill of God where is the garrison of the Philistines and there as they came down and prophesied he should be found amongst them and oh that blessed word to me a sweet word even from the first chapter of

[15:30] Genesis to the end of the Bible you have it in the ninth verse of this tenth chapter and it was so and it was so yes what God so designed it was so God spake God wrought and God brought it to pass and that is the same message that is contained in the twenty second chapter of the revelation it is the amen God it is not the amen of the believer who says so let it be it is the amen of the God who says so it is so it is there can be no disruption of the divine plan relative unto its execution no there is the connecting link of all events and then you have set before you the preparatory laying out of that which relates unto

[16:50] God's thought do you see how that his thought as it were goes before Saul even in this matter yes we're talking about that wearing God would make his word known unto Saul but you see how there in connection with it all there is a preparation God is arranging things God is so something matters that there shall as it were be no failure and in the result so he comes to Saul and he tells him what he is doing and what will indeed transpire on the next day when Saul had set out three days before little did he know that wherein the arrangements of his journey were all going to be altered and that which related unto the knowledge imparted unto

[17:57] Samuel was eventually to be made known unto him you know in the tenth chapter we had this we're told of how the families of Matri were taken and then the family of Kirsch and then they looked for Saul and they couldn't find him no that's very suggestive isn't it that that wherein God was walking concerning this man the man didn't want it he didn't desire so to have that position of which the word had spoken unto him no when his uncle began to question them then he told him of the asses he didn't tell him about the kingdom he kept it to himself and when he came to the time when he was to be anointed as king then where is he behold he's hidden in the rubbish you know

[19:18] I remember on one occasion I had forgotten it that wherein that verse spoke to me in this way that here is royalty and where is it it's hidden in the rubbish you know when God work it will work within the heart of a man it is a royal work and he does not as it were take any notice of the condition of the state in which the individual may be if that man is to be brought out and to be made manifest then it doesn't matter where he has got to amongst all the rubbish of this life God will bring him out and make it to be seen that this is the one whom the Lord has chosen to be king over Israel yes the wonderful arrangements of the divine thought of

[20:26] God and one here is reminded of the psalmist when he mentioned the same thoughts of God their greatness the innumerableness of them and how they did so as it were encompass his path in every direction how precious are thy thoughts unto me O God why he said if I should seek as it were to add them up they are more than the sands of the sea he's talking about himself and these are the thoughts that God has concerning men and the wonderful favor that he will be pleased to manifest especially unto his own what does man care about the thoughts of God you can test your own case by that can't you what are the thoughts of

[21:30] God to you what do they mean to you why if you cannot as it were conceive of the wonder of them isn't it this how precious are they thoughts unto me oh God yes I shall have to take you back here to what we said this morning about the unaccountability of those things in which we are oft times found engaged and the unaccountable wonder of that wearing the love of God doth so fix itself upon the souls of individuals and his favor is made known unto them it's the same truth isn't it how precious are thy thoughts unto me for then there is another effect that seems as it were to stand out in these words before my mind and that is the governing principle that regulates our life in other words the divine knowledge of movement there's plenty of movement in these two chapters but all the movement as it were was activated by that principle there is a directive in it all it is as though

[23:13] God says this is the way that I will have this man to go this is the position in which I am going to bring him and it's the same principle that rules and governs the life of every man whether he knows it or not and God in his great mercy toward his people all their movements are under his jurisdiction he not only seeth their movements but he in the greatness of his favor toward them directed them and we reminded you this morning of that scripture it is not in man to direct his steps it isn't what a wonderful thing when the

[24:16] Lord comes and he directs your step in his truth but still we mustn't as it were remain still upon these points because I want to come to this stand thou still a while or as it says in the margin stand thou still today why is the command given because God's voice can only be heard by us in the season of inactivity oh we may be so taken up of all the affairs of life that his voice is not heard why is it not heard because we are not in that right position wherein his voice is to be heard by us

[25:26] I sometimes fear it in regard to the work of the ministry yes I know people complain of that which relates unto the ministry the same as we might complain of the poverty that exists in the pew but I do feel this very much that a man may be so actively engaged in going out and out and out from day to day until he has very little time for communion for meditation for that wherein in the stillness he can hear the inward voice surely Elijah teaches us a lesson here Elijah who has gone through that wilderness and has come into that cave and he hears a voice what doest thou hear

[26:34] Elijah and there was a great wind but it wasn't in the wind and there was a great earthquake but it wasn't in the earthquake and there was a great fire but it wasn't in the fire and after this a still small voice yes it made Elijah put his mantle across his face and come out and to the door of the cave the other didn't draw him out and we may be so taken up with that which relates to the perplexities and the problems and the difficulties that may be set on us that we are as it were shut off or shut out from that which relates unto that wherein the power of action alone doth lie and that is in the season of inactivity

[27:44] I believe if you arrive whether we're in the pure in the poor but if God is pleased to use us for the glory of his name there is the essentiality of that wherein we must have those seasons of inactivity absolute quietness for notice what it says in the text relating to it Samuel said to Saul bid the servant pass on before us and he passed on when was the word of the Lord made known unto him when he was in isolation the servant of God he was left God was going to speak to him do we know the isolation times in life when that which relates unto our fellow men their influence is not present their voice is not heard we are shut up as a word unto one avenue and that is the avenue whereby

[29:03] God is pleased to communicate unto the heart in your isolation his will and his purpose do you have the isolated times do you know what it is to shut the door of your closet and there to see come to your father who see it in secret is it there that you wait for that still small voice to speak within your heart when you're separated taken away from every other intrusion that would otherwise mar that which relates to the word of God and again in the very words that are used stand thou still it is as though

[30:03] Samuel is saying unto him now attention attention it is in that wherein we stand face to face with the reality of the word of God it's that time when we are brought as it were to a stand still and we can't take another step forward because God intends to teach and to instruct you in the knowledge of his will and poppers and not only attention here but it is that Samuel would have thought to be heedful unto that which he was going to speak unto him now can we not put these thoughts as it were into that wherein the scripture so instructed us be still be still and know that

[31:14] I am God it's in the times of inactivity and isolation and attention that we are brought to the reality of the knowledge of God as it is brought unto us in his word yes and not only be still but be silent listen to what I have to tell you be silent before me said the Lord and the psalmist said that his soul was silent before the Lord and it isn't very long before we find that psalmist breaking out as it were into that wherein he ascribes unto his God the wonders of his works and his ways we only learn these things in secret ah that word closing to my mind the secret of the

[32:20] Lord is with them that fear him to them he will show his government and you know that government consisted of shalls and of wills and that which related unto this man though not a jail of God was nevertheless manipulated and governed by the divine shall yes thou shalt go on he was being governed by the almighty shall and what a mercy if you can trace in your life wherein in the covenant favor bestowed upon you God has been pleased so to order your footsteps that you have been brought into those times when there has been a stillness and a silence and a waiting upon God and there has been given unto you to know that wherein the will of

[33:24] God is revealed concerning you stand thou still a while that I may show thee the word of God that his word is a revelation his word is personal unto the individual yes it conveys a message for that individual and he must give heed unto that which is spoken because the very word proves the existence of God when the word of God is directly spoken unto the individual when it comes with that implicit directness wherein it cannot be avoided there is the tremendous fact that it has indeed come forth from

[34:30] God himself do you know what it is so then to receive the word of God in the proof and the reality of his existence I'll tell you why this is necessary otherwise at times you're treated as though it is a vain word as though it were correct of all meaning but when you realize the existence of God in that word then you realize that it shall be so that it is definite yea it will abide and remain it brings home to you the existence of God therefore the word of God has a bearing upon your present life ah dost thou then sit as it were in the quietness of your own heart simply attentive to know the

[35:40] Lord has to declare unto you I would I have more of that spirit than I have I would that I could more often realize that desire so to get away as it were into isolation and there in the silence to realize the speaking in the heart of the still voice of God the hearing life your strength hearing life your wisdom yes my mind here for a moment it goes back unto that wherein Paul so of concerning these things he says all the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God who have known the mind of the Lord who have been his counselor for of him and to him or of him from and through him and to him on all things to whom be glory forever and ever why sayest thou

[37:02] Jacob thy way is hid from the Lord and thy judgment is passed over by thy God God oh if thou hearest the word of the Lord it will prove the contrary yes stand thou still the while that I may show thee the word of God that it not only relates to the present but it has a regard unto the future thy word is a lamp unto my feet a light unto my path you know we love do we not to meditate upon that wearing God is indeed the one who directed all our ways but do we delight in the realization that whatever the future may hold us

[38:07] God is going to lead us and he is going to lead us into the paths that he sees fit to lead us in and if he leads us in then he will lead us through and he will lead us on let it be his name I have the persuasion in my own heart when I can trace that wherein the Lord has been leading that he will guide with his counsel enough to receive us to glory he won't fail in his purpose the seekful will prove that wherein his will has been working on the behalf of that individual all through his life yes it has a regard unto his teacher so stand thou still a while while

[39:11] I show unto you the word of the Lord what is that word no I shall be staying upon the points but you think about it that word is so authoritative it has the authority over every existing thing it not only has authority but it is a directing word as we see in regard even to the movements of Saul he was directed by God in that wherein he was so to proceed and it all came to pass exactly as God had said through Samuel that it would and it is a vindicated word it may seem so easy to us to read these things in the word of

[40:12] God and we read about these men and we read about these others and the prophets and so on does it ever occur to you how wonderful it all is that these intimate details are so given given to us to teach us that God vindicates what he has said he comes down to the three loads yes a bottle of wine and so forth they're going to give you two loads and he received it you see how God's word as it were is working active in everything that these men did and in that which was relative unto the word of the Lord that God had spoken unto

[41:14] Saul oh there is of indication of divine truth and it is full of promise the word of God full of promise it was full of promise even unto Saul it was the promise of that wherein his kingship should indeed be made known but God hath given us far greater promises in his word than that and the God who forfeuded in his case is our God and he is our guide even unto and over death and the word is full of promise that directed us and is vindicated therefore it is an illuminating word yea it is the final word in life you

[42:20] God will always have the final word it doesn't matter what men say it doesn't matter what they surmise or anything else it doesn't matter what they may indeed in all their wickedness seem so to achieve God will at the end have the lost word that throne of judgment will decide the reality of his word which has gone forth out of his mouth that he is a God who cannot lie yes and that brings us then to this forward how I should take heed to what I hear is what I hear the word of God how should I know it because the word of God shows forth the truth it will show you the truth the truth of insult the truth of yourself and that that truth is all consisting in himself and in himself alone take heed how ye hear why it is your truth the need of it is so tremendous you feel your need of it then seek that you may enter into that isolated quiet condition wherein

[44:06] God is heard to speak in the stillness of your heart and to make known unto you his purpose his will concerning you in Christ Jesus oh may the Lord teach us to be still to be quiet to be silent before him and to have that hearing here that there in that place we may know that God is speaking and that he's speaking unto us and I hope in some measure it may be realized what is in the text by one or two of us at any rate this day I believe I've heard you know when you water others you rocked and watered your soul and this is one of these truths stand thou still and what do you read in the margin stand thou still today that I may show thee the word of God now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation that is what the word of God shows unto us amen