Redeemer Church Of Waterford

If you know anything at all about David, you know that David was "a man after God's own heart." But what you may not know is that the phrase "a man after God's own heart" says nothing at all about David's character and integrity and everything about God's sovereign will and purposes.

What does it mean that "God looks on the heart"? Not what we think it means.Samuel announced to Saul that the Lord had rejected him as king and "sought him a man after his own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14). Later, the Lord told Samuel that "the Lord sees not as man sees...the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). It is GOD's heart - God's will, purpose, and intentions - that is in view in the choosing of David - not the character of David.

Confronted by Samuel with his sinful disobedience to the Lord's command to "utterly destroy" the Amalekites, King Saul offers "reputable repentance" in response. Saul is more concerned with saving face with the leaders of Israel and his people than he is with recognizing the seriousness of what his disobedience has done to God's reputation, as well as his own relationship with the Lord.Saul says, "I have sinned, yet honor me." Saul wants a repentance that allows him to admit he's done a bad thing, yet believes he can still worship God without a genuine turning from his sin. Sadly, we hold to the same error, believing we can continue our sinning ways through the week while singing God's praise on Sunday with no real conviction or repentance.

Saul's reckless disregard for the word of the Lord lead to an obstinate contradiction of the word of the Lord and ended in a fatal rejection of the word of the Lord.This is the downward progression every person takes who has no regard for the word of the Lord. They go their own way, and the way that seems right to a man is the way that ends in death.

How do we reconcile what we know of God's mercy and forgiveness with his command in 1 Samuel 15:3 to "utterly destroy" the Amalekites, a command which includes not sparing even women, infants, and young children?This is the problem of God's retribution, and it has been a stumbling block to so many, causing them to see God as capricious and vindictive. But a closer look at the text reveals quite the opposite.

Israel is looking for a leader. God is looking for a leader. The leader Israel wants is a king like all the other nations. The leader God wants is a man after his own heart.1 Samuel 14 is a study in contrasts between these two leaders in the persons of Saul and his son Jonathan. Jonathan displays a heart of unflinching trust in God while Saul displays all the outward forms of religious ritual, but has a heart that is far from God.

Having considered the characteristics of Saul's behavior in 1 Samuel 14:24-46 which lead us to define him as a spiritual pretender, we now consider what effect that pretentious behavior had on the people of Israel.

The Book of 1 Samuel has as it's underlying theme leadership. When it opens, there is no king in Israel; every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes. There is a vacuum of leadership.God is looking for a leader, and so are the people of Israel. But what Israel is looking for in a leader and what God is looking for in a leader are in stark contrast.And no place is that contrast more on display than in the person of young Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14.

How do we guard the unity of the church when we have differences of opinions on non-essential matters where the word of God has no clear commandment either for or against?It is not our personal convictions which guide our response to others, but the reality that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. "We are the Lord's" and must make it our aim to please Him.

The story in 1 Samuel 13 serves as an illustration of what happens when we we allow our circumstances to determine our responses rather than the word of God. Saul finds himself in dire straits, and he ignores God's command to wait for Samuel to give him instruction, and the result is a lack of clear direction leading to foolishness.

In 1 Samuel 10, 11, and 12 the phrase "before the Lord" recurs several times. It is a reminder to us that we live every moment of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and for the glory of God.

In 1 Samuel 12, Samuel summons all Israel to Gilgal where a courtroom scene unfolds. First Samuel is the defendant, and then the nation of Israel. Samuel is acquitted. Israel is condemned. But there's a surprise ending to this drama.

The Body of Christ must function as a single unit, with our shields interlocked, as a living organism. In this text in 1 Corinthians, Paul lays out four truths which should be an encouragement to our church:1) The Unity in Christ2)The Diversity of Gifts 3) The Necessity of All4) The Intentionality of God

The question on the minds and lips of the people of Israel is the question everyone of us must answer: "Can this man save us?"Saul's victory over Nahash the Ammonite is an Old Testament portrait of the greater victory of Christ Jesus the Lord over our enemy, that old serpent, the devil

The people had a Savior in God, whom they rejected (1 Samuel 10:19). In His mercy, God gave them a savior in the king they demanded (1 Samuel 9:16) whom they also rejected (1 Samuel 10:27).And now the people are confronted with the tyrant from Ammon, Nabash, and they immediately go in search for a man who can save them (1 Samuel 11:3), all the while God is at work in His mercy to Himself once again come to the rescue of His rebellious people (`1 Samuel 11:13).

In 1 Samuel 8, the people have asked for a king "like all the nations around them." In 1 Samuel 9, a young man who thinks he is searching for his father's lost donkeys has actually found the Prophet Samuel with whom he has a private audience where he learns that God has chosen him to be Israel's first king, but he will NOT be a king like other kings, much to the dismay of some "worthless men."As we come to know obscure young man from the least of all the tribes of Israel, the most shocking revelation may be in today's text.

The Apostle Paul assumes that within any local congregation of believers there will be "weak" believers and "strong" believers. But what is the standard by which a Christian is weak or strong? And what is the basis upon which we are to "welcome" or receive one another when we differ on nonessentials?

On May 6, 2023 the world witnessed the Coronation of King Charles III. When the crown was placed upon his head, the gathered congregation in Westminster Abbey shouted, "God save the king!"In the providence of God, the series we began in 1 Samuel more than six months ago brings us to 1 Samuel 10:24 on this day after the coronation of King Charles where another congregation gathered for the coronation of the first king of Israel. They were the first to shout, "God save the king!"But there are some troubling differences between the coronation of King Saul and the coronation of King Charles III.