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[0:00] In the first book of the Bible, chapter 9, verse 27. And as they were running down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, So, bid the servant pass on before us, and he passed on.

[0:30] But stand thou still a while, that I may show thee the word of God. Her thoughts will be mainly concentrated on the last two sentences of this verse.

[0:53] But stand thou still a while, that I may show thee the word of God.

[1:04] No doubt, when we read a chapter such as the one that we have read for our lesson this morning, we may find it natural, very interesting.

[1:25] The various circumstances that are related may indeed attract and hold our attention.

[1:36] And we have that within us that may, as it were, reach out after that which is not obviously upon the surface of the chapter.

[1:49] We desire to reach out after that which relates unto the reality of those things which are set forth before us in the holy realm.

[2:06] In other words, the word of God is not simply a matter of history. It is not simply telling us about those things which happened many, many years ago.

[2:26] It is not written for us to be entertained intellectually thereby. But it is written, and it matters not where the chapter may be.

[2:41] Or how, on the other hand, how interesting the chapter may be. There is in those things a declaration of God that may be known unto us.

[2:57] A revelation given of his mind, of his thought, and of his work amongst the children of men. In other words, it brings before us the sovereignty of God.

[3:15] And that he is indeed ever present in heaven and in earth. Thus he declares by the prophets, Am I not the Lord?

[3:31] Am I not the Lord?

[4:01] The whole of man is continually under the divine control. And no man is except from it.

[4:16] The most wicked individual that you can think of, or that you may have an account of in the word of God, is nevertheless under that same divine sovereign government.

[4:36] Surely you have the direct inference unto that truth in the case of Judas. It was foretold. And the Lord himself said, It had been better for that man if he had never been born.

[4:54] No, there is not. No, there is not. That is hidden from the eye of omniscience. And in this chapter we have brought before us the wondrous lookings of God unto that end, wherein his purpose shall be brought upon us.

[5:16] The little things in life which may seem to be so unnoticed and almost obscured, nevertheless, continually revolving, being activated by the divine power of the almighty God.

[5:39] I said one, man's guns are of the Lord. How can a man then understand his way?

[5:58] There is not a single pathway in which any of us may tread, but what the aides of God are trying us, inspecting, knowing, does not as it were, enter into that wherein I may say, in the language of them who are recorded in the word of God, doth God know?

[6:30] God in his knowledge knows every detail and item that is connected with every man's life. I'm not simply here as it were, simply abandoning it unto that which relates unto the children of God.

[6:50] That is blessedly true. But it is true of the wicked. And there is no strategy or device or purpose that may be so conceivable in their heart, but the Lord knew all about it beforehand.

[7:07] So, a man's goings are of the Lord, though the man himself cannot understand it.

[7:20] Nevertheless, unto us who may be concerned and sorely at times depressed by reason of the events that come upon the earth, surely it is a most comforting and uplifting thought to know that man's goings are of the Lord.

[7:47] Behind it all in the inscrutability of the divine wisdom, there is a purpose which he is working out. He chooses whom he will, and he adorates that man's heart and that man accordingly.

[8:05] Yea, he adores he into soul, if need be he adores his heart. He adores it were the whole course of his life.

[8:20] He who has so brought him up to that point has been leading him and directing him in his infinite wisdom, that there may be the preparation in the individual unto that task which the Lord hath in mind concerning him.

[8:39] You may say, then are you not as it were making God as it were to be the instigator of evil? Certainly not.

[8:53] Satan is bound by the word of God. He knew it when he went, so amongst the sons of men in regard unto God's servant, Joseph.

[9:07] The Lord may permit that which related unto his power to be so evident in the lives of individuals.

[9:22] But it is always in that where he says, thus far shalt thou go and know thou. when the divine purpose has indeed been so obtained, then he will indeed cause deceit that which relates unto all the machinations and all that relates unto the instigations of men.

[9:55] I say it as a blessed and a comforting thought for us to remember that he feels heaven and earth.

[10:12] That there is no region, no place, no, no secret place. But what he is there. And if you want to read the reality of it, you will find it in the 138th Psalm.

[10:29] Wherein the psalmist had said to say that the Lord would search him and trade him. And he mentions that that if he went to heaven or if he goes down to hell and he says, thou art there.

[10:46] Then if it is a comforting thought unto the people of God that all men's goings are of the Lord, what a terrifying thought it is concerning the wicked. Because everything that relates unto them, they shall have to give an account.

[11:03] They shall have to stand before that judge whose omniscient die will be of so searching a nature that not one single thing shall be hidden from him and they will be conscious of it in his presence.

[11:23] It will all be brought to light. Oh, terrible thing meant for the unbeliever. Terrible thing for them that said God not.

[11:37] Terrible thing for the man that said in his heart there is no God. To suddenly be brought unto the realization that God is.

[11:51] And that God is a very jealous God. And that he who is so good and made manifest unto us as the Lamb of God in whom we should expect to find all weakness and gentleness and graciousness is nevertheless is one who is full of wrath.

[12:18] One's mind for a moment goes to that scene in the temple in Jerusalem. the disciples have seen somewhat of his miracles but they saw one of his greatest miracles in the temple.

[12:38] When he went therein and single handed he drove out all the money changers and he drove out all the cattle and not one man's voice was lifted up in protest against it.

[12:58] Man shall be left without excuse. No, he will have nothing to say in the day of judgment because the whole record of his life will be judged faithfully in truth.

[13:18] Then stand thou still a while that I may show thee the word of God and you know there is another rendering to this verse and it is this Stand thou still today it is as low let it not go on any further in ignorance let it be known today that I may cause thee to hear the word of God showing and hearing are connected true in that wherein a man is made to know the word of God and as one comes to the text one is again reminded of Jeremiah when he was indeed true when he was feeling the scourge of the wicked when he as it were was indeed despised despised and slandered and he went before the Lord and he said

[14:40] I know Lord that the ways of man are not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps now there is a superintendent there is one apart from whom no man can take a step you know mighty here these things are not detached from our lives they come right into the very center of our own existence in time that every step I take in light is known unto the Lord oh I know men will say now you know when you talk about taking steps and so on you're talking about circumstances and so on my friend

[15:46] I don't think so I read in the word of God how that there was a braiding forth by Hannah into song of the sovereignty of God wherein she declared he keepeth the feet of his saints and why is it that we have so many times in the scriptures the request made by others hold thou me up and I shall be saved and so on it is not because they realized and felt that every step that they took was under the superintendence of an all wise governing Jehovah now you think for a moment I may purpose in my mind to say to myself now I'm going to take a step forward and before I can take it I may drop down dead it's not a man that walks to direct his way he is so absolute dependent upon the almighty the very breath that he draws is only in that wherein upon the sin always

[17:10] God doth so grant him that breath everything that pertains unto you the Lord owns it we read that he made man in his own image true that was related unto the image of communion fellowship with God was lost in the fall in the garden of Eve but oh if we were made in the image of God then mighty hearer of God will have respect unto his own work and we read of our work in Jeremiah that was marked and we read of our work that the potter again took into his hand and refashioned according to his own will and

[18:12] God who so much give over his people as was that was related unto the children of men is consistently in his tremendous incomprehensive will working out that which is for his glory and that which is essential for the profit of his people and for that wherein he shall make known himself in the condemnation of those or every step then that I take I take unto the superintendence of my God and I look at the text again and I am reminded of another fact in connection with it and that is this the

[19:14] Saul of Samuel have now come to a point in their own life experience wherein they are brought face to face with the reality of the word of God and that is that wherein we are directed to ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established or as you will find the margin there let all thy ways be ordered arrived ponder the path of thy feet what a word that word ponder is it's more than simply as it were meditation it is appearing as it were deeply into the matter a sinking of oneself into that which relates unto the mystery of life ponder the path of thy feet then I thought of that before coming here this morning another scripture as it were floating to thy mind thou knowest the walking of thy people through the wilderness thou knowest it well we're in the wilderness and we have all the thorns and the briars and all the dangers and all the perils of the wilderness about us the

[21:03] Lord knows by walking through this wilderness and now ponder the path of thy feet and see if that which relates unto the truth that is now being conveyed unto us through the narrative contained in this chapter has not had its own counterpart its own impress upon your own life stand thou still aware and I will show thee the word of God when we got sent before us in this chapter to instruct us in that wherein Saul and Samuel have so been brought unto this point in time well here is a man there's no extraordinary thing about him he's a man like unto you and unto me he's a man of like passion yea he is not even found in some notable position or some outstanding work rather it is as though he were a son of

[22:32] Tish nevertheless he was continually at his behest and his call an ordinary man in length you see God deals with the ordinary man always likes as it were to deal with the extra others God comes down and he deals with ordinary individuals he is no respecter of persons yes it matters not what position in light they may hold they are still as those who stand before him as the instruments of his own handiwork and as such he deals with them as ordinary individuals and this ordinary in baby john is given a job of work an unexpected job he has as a loss as a loss that may be an everyday occurrence but my friend what we look at everyday occurrence sometimes would be better for us if we looked upon it as particular as that which is singled out that there is nothing that happens in the life as it were without some ruling mind and thought connected with it it may not be in my mind that the assets should be lost it may not be according to my will that they should stray away but nevertheless there is a connecting mind and thought in regard to it all you may say the poor masses why they were only as it were carrying out and effecting that which was natural to their own inclinations it may have been that they moved according to their instinct well remember that God governs all these things and so these asses have got to be sought for and a man has got to be set apart to seek for them and God who knows the end from the beginning so devaries that in the movement of those asses so the movement of an individual should likewise be concerned in it the little things that affect us in life of which we take no notice the things of which we are so oblivious and yet are particulars in the movement of the divine will concerning us ask of his father take now one of the servants who would be and arise go seek the asses fare go on the will of the will and what does he have to contend with he finds that he has to contend with the frustrations of life the frustrations of life he goes here he goes there he goes anywhere that he can possibly think of and he can find no trace of those assets.

[26:54] A very remarkable fact if you would think about it. Surely in that wherein the very fact that the animal itself would be of a ruminating nature they would be easy to be discovered.

[27:13] But my friend, that only moves so far as the divine control operates in the battle. And here is this man frustrated in all his arms.

[27:30] What do we think? He passed through Mount Ebron. He passed through the land of Shalazia. But they found the North.

[27:43] Then they passed through the land of Shalazia. And there they were not. And he passed through the land of the Benjamins.

[27:57] But they found them not. Wherever he went he seemed to be frustrated. and yet all those frustrations were in the will of God.

[28:16] They were necessary unto the thinking of the individual in a certain direction. There was as it were to be an interruption given unto his thinking that he may not so pursue that which is relative to the inclination of his own mind and thought.

[28:39] For when they were come to the land of Zulz, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, let us return.

[28:50] Lest my father leave caring for the asses and take forth the russes. And the servant said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city, yes, let go to the spot, God's timing is so strictly accurate in all things.

[29:16] There is in this city a man of God and he is an unannable man. or that he said, Come if surely depart, no one has come with us.

[29:30] Peraventure, he could show us the way that he should go. Yes, frustration.

[29:45] And now here is something else that seems that it were to stand in the way of that wherein this suggestion has been made by his servant. Again, the setting forth before us of the little things in life that add up to so much.

[30:13] they can't be separated the one from the other. There may be that wherein so may purpose, but there shall be another voice in the mouth of the servant whereby he shall be dissuaded from what he purposes.

[30:35] And they are eventually brought into agreement. but how is it going to be effective? Yes, there is the little things that become so important.

[30:53] We have no bread. We've got nothing to take to the profit. How then can we go? Did the servant put his hand into his pocket?

[31:09] Did he make as it were a surprising thing? It almost seems like it in the way in which the word is expressed. He says, Behold, as though it is a matter of wonder, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver.

[31:31] In the margin, your faint, it is rendered. Behold, there is found in my hand a shekel, a part of a shekel of silver that will I give to the man of God to turn us away.

[31:53] Yes, those little things that may seem to be so little in their estimation, yet they may be the very things whereby our way is directed by God.

[32:12] The things that shall lead us unto the point wherein God is pleased to make eventually his word known unto us.

[32:25] Did they stand together sworn in his servant on that occasion? I don't know. I expect they did to talk one to another. For stand thou still a while.

[32:37] And I will show thee the word of God. not. But is that all there is to it?

[32:50] No, there is something yours, here surely. Wherein the Lord is teaching us, and that is the unaccountability for the things that we may do in life.

[33:05] What I mean by that is this, you may do something if you can't come wait. You may as it were take this turning or that turning, and you cannot as it were give any sensible reason as to why you have ever done it.

[33:23] And you may look back over your life and you wonder why or not you did such a thing as that. It may not have been in your heart, it may not have been in your mind, and yet that which related unto a circumstance some little thing that so occurred, or just as it were, the whole course, and you go in a different direction altogether.

[33:48] You're not going back unto your father, peace. You're going unto the man of God. I'm slowly tempted on this point, as it were, to talk about the uncountable wonder of the grace of God in these matters when it comes to a poor sinner.

[34:09] But of course, it does not really appear in our text. We are dealing with other matters now, but nevertheless think about it, won't you?

[34:23] You will never be able to account for the wonder of the love of God towards you. You'll never be able to account for the wonder of the grace of God, which is being manifested towards you.

[34:39] And you'll never be able to account for the fact as to why that was found in your heart a desire for the living God. The unaccountable, things that we cannot think of the answer to in ourselves, truly the answer alone centers in the wisdom and the mercy of God.

[35:09] God. But nevertheless, to come back to the point, the unaccountable things that we do, yet how it's ordered the whole course of your life.

[35:25] You may say you don't know why you did it, but you're reaping from it. And they, though they might not be able to give an account as to why that's related unto the presence of this man of God in the city should be of so as importance unto them regarding the assets.

[35:50] Nevertheless, here is the part of a shekel of silver. And then set sword to his son, well said, come, let us go.

[36:05] So they went unto the city where the man of God was. Isn't there another thought here the strange experiences of life, the things that we meet with as we so walk through this world, world, and so many things that we take for granted, which are the result of the direct intervention of God on our behalf.

[36:48] What I mean by that is explained here surely as they went up the hill to the city they found a maiden going out to draw water. they said unto them, is the seer here?

[37:04] They answered them and said, he is. Yes, they've no sooner gotten near to the city than they find that their way is directed unto the seer.

[37:20] it's only through question. It's only through inquiry which they have made and yet the result of their mission on this occasion depended upon it.

[37:36] And the answer was given, clear and plain, he is here. Have you never had any strange experiences in your life? have you never found that as you have been going on your way you have been brought into contact with certain people?

[38:00] The certain questions have come out of that meeting with those people. Their inquiries have been made and you have seen eventually that wherein all these things have been graciously manipulated unto that end which God had in mind concerning you that it is not of man but of God.

[38:32] Yes, and do we not see here that wherein there is the sequel unto it all? Yes, so was designed the greater things than that of seeking assets.

[38:55] God had told Samuel, he said, I am going to send a man to you tomorrow. My friend, if the man, if God says he is going to send the man, then that man will surely come and he will come by the way that the Lord means him to come.

[39:13] there would have been a mistake about him actually appearing. Now he comes. And so we bang that in connection with this, that as they went up into the city and when they were coming to the city, behold, Samuel came out against them for to go up to the high place.

[39:36] there's no mistake. As they're just going to enter into the city, there is the seer. Strange word to be used in connection with the whole of the case.

[39:54] Yes, stand thou still a while that I may show thee the word of God.

[40:07] Well, we won't pursue the subject further this morning, but if the Lord enables us, we shall hope to dwell upon the unseen and the unknown workings of God in the lives of individuals this evening.

[40:27] May the Lord bless his word, make it a matter of meditation unto our souls, that it may lead us to fall down before him and adore and glory very, the God of all wisdom, who direct you for their movements to his eternal glory.

[40:53]  Amen. Amen.