They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. I therefore hearken unto their voice, albeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. Then we turn down to verse 20 and we read a few verses at the end of the chapter. That we also may be like all the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, hearken unto their voice and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, go ye every man. onto his city. We'll finish there. We trust the Lord will bless his word to our hearts. In many ways, the book of 1 Samuel is a book of crises. There are times of trouble, times of critical difficulties in the nation and in families. And in many ways, it's just one crisis after another. In 1 Samuel chapter 1, you have the crisis in the life of Hannah when she desperately longed for a child And in that state of heavy burden, she takes her request to the Lord and she pours out her heart in fervent intercession. That time in her life when she was being persecuted and provoked by Penina was a time of great crisis for her. 1 Samuel chapter 3 records the crisis in Eli's family. When the high priest was told that God was going to judge his house because his sons had sinned and he did not restrain them. And you can imagine the type of crisis that produced in Eli's heart and in his mind. He's brought to a point where he knows that their sin is known, he hasn't restrained them, therefore his sin is known and there's going to be trouble in his family. 1 Samuel chapter 4. records the crisis in the nation when the Ark of the Covenant was taken by the Philistines in that time of battle. Hophni and Phinehas have called for the Ark and they've brought the Ark to the battlefield and the Ark is taken. Hophni and Phinehas are both killed in battle. Eli hears the news of that. He falls back from his seat in the temple and he loses his life also. Chapter 4 is a chapter of great crises. 1 Samuel chapter 6 records another crisis in the nation of Israel when the ark is returned and the men of Beth Shemesh there are out reaping and they look into the ark. and a number of those men are slain by the power of God. So it seems in the opening chapters of 1 Samuel that it's one crisis after another. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, another crisis emerges in the nation. In fact, there are two parts to the one great trouble here. One part is personal and the other part is national. Both of them involve Samuel, the servant of God. Notice there from verse 3 especially, that Samuel is brought face to face with the sins of his two sons. Verse three records it, verse five records the report that is brought to him by the elders of Israel. We looked a little at this last week, but there's some additional comments I want to make this morning in regard to the words of verse three and the words of verse five. We know from verse two that Samuel had made his sons judges in Israel, and they judged in the place known as Beersheba. And reports come to Samuel from the elders that his sons are not walking in his ways. There are men who are running after lucre and they're taking bribes. They're perverting judgment. They're not men of God. They're not walking with God. They're not following in their father's footsteps. And news of this is brought to Samuel and that produces a crisis in his life. And I think of Samuel's two sons. These two men that are mentioned, the details, it's all we have about these two men, and it's not encouraging, not encouraging at all. But it's good just to pause and to pick up on some of the thoughts, some of the lessons we ought to learn here that are directed not only to young people, but to older folk as well. We need to notice here that in verse two and verse three, that young people need to know the saving grace of God personally. They need to know the saving grace of God personally. These two sons were the sons of one of the most spiritual men in all of Israel. Samuel was a godly man. A man of prayer, a man of faith, a man of obedience, a man who loved the Lord, a man who was set apart by God, a man who was instrumental in leading the nation in chapter 7 into some measure of revival, some measure of reformation. He's there at the very cutting edge of God's blessing among the people in chapter 7. He's a godly man. But they did not know the Lord. His sons did not walk with God. They did not walk in his ways. And it's something that young people need to know, that their father's faith is not transferred to them as of just something they have because they are their father's children. Grace is something we must experience personally. There are many, many young people across the world and many of our churches too, I suppose, who think because they are brought up in a Christian home that all is well with them. And somehow or other, they imagine that because their parents are saved and because there's some evidence of Christianity within the home, that that's all is required for them. It's almost salvation by proxy. That they are ready for heaven because their parents are ready for heaven. And of course, that's not true. Here are two men who are the sons of a very godly man, but they do not know the Lord. They do not walk in his way. I see also from verse 3 there that the love of money has led many a young person, many an older person too, but many a young person especially, astray. It speaks of Joel and Abiah as men who walked not in his ways but turned aside after looker and took bribes. They were motivated by what they could gain from the people. by what they could have by way of self-promotion, self-advancement. Young men who are living for the things of the world, especially for the material things of this world, and so they're prepared to take bribes, pervert judgment, because they are motivated by a love of money. And I think that's one of the lusts of the flesh that has snared thousands, if not millions, of young people. The love of money. The love of getting something in this world, of having something more of this world. I know that verse, and we ought to turn over to that 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 10. That verse is very often misquoted, where people will say the money is the root of all evil, and therefore there's some sort of reaction against money. Well, we need money to live. We need money in this society, we can't get very far without having something to pay the bills and pay our responsibilities, our obligations and all of that. So it's not money itself that's the root of evil, it's the love of money. And Paul's writing to young Timothy and he tells them in verse nine of 1 Timothy chapter six, but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. It's like a commentary on what you read in 1 Samuel 8 in verse 3 regarding Joel and Abiah. Now I know that we're living in a very materialistic age. It's an age where the thought of gaining more and more and more is often promoted as the right way to live your life. There is a lusting, a lusting after money, things of this world, more perhaps than ever there has been before. Why do you think the lottery business does so well? The dream, the prospect of being a millionaire, the prospect of being a multi-millionaire in some cases, and some begin to live for this, Some begin to desire after this, and their love for money takes over their love for anything else. And even Christians can fall into that kind of thinking, that way of thought. Paul said, be content with such things as ye have. You can have your Bible slope in there at first Timothy chapter six, look back at verse eight. Look right back to verse six, actually he says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. He goes on then to speak about the love of money being the root of evil. Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. If we have food, if we have clothes, we can be content. Very often that's not true though. We have food and we have clothes and we sometimes are still not content. There's a desire for something more and it's a very easy snare and that's the language of scripture. It speaks there of a snare, verse 9, by they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and it's a very easy snare to fall into. that we begin to live our lives, not for Christ's glory, not for any purpose of advancing the gospel and going on with God, begin to live our lives with this focus that we have got to have the things, the material things of this world and gather them around us. And while we know we carried nothing into the world and we carried nothing out of the world, the time we spent in this world is spent with the wrong kind of priority and the wrong kind of focus. That's a very dangerous thing. It's a very dangerous thing for young people as they commence out in life to have this kind of mentality that money and the love of money becomes such a prominent thought in their mind. The desire for wealth has caused thousands along a path of spiritual ruin to go along that direction. You think of the rich young ruler having told by Christ to go and sell what he had and give to the poor and follow Christ and take up his cross and go after the Savior. And he leaves the Savior sorrowful because he had great possessions. Here's a man and his possessions meant more to him than his walking with the Lord. When I look at Samuel's sons here, they're men who turn aside after lucre. They take bribes. They're motivated by a fleshly lust. And we ought not to follow that kind of example. To follow that on through, let me say that sins of youth are very hard to overcome in later life. The sins of youth are hard to overcome in later life. And I'm not speaking here about the power of God's grace. We know there's cleansing for us, we know there is victory there and there's grace to cover every sin, but sins leave an impact. Sin leaves its mark. Sin leaves a scar, and that's something we need to always remember. And sins that are indulged in our youth very often have a habit of resurfacing again and again. I know, as I've mentioned, there is grace to cover all our sin, and there is cleansing from our sin, but the habits that you form and habits that we form in our younger days are extremely hard to break. You take a person who tells lies, I'm just using that as an example, and I want you to turn over to Psalm 119, just for a moment, Psalm 119. A person who tells lies, and there are kids, there are kids who will grow up, and that seems to be their way. And I suppose every young person, every child, sometime or another, has been very economical with the truth, not deliberately setting out to tell a lie. You know, you ask a child, did you do this? And they'll say no. Almost immediately, they say no, even though it's all over their face that they have done something. And parents can see that very quickly. But a young person who develops that form of telling lies becomes a habit with them. Look at Psalm 119 in verse 29, remove from me the way of lying and grant me thy law graciously. He speaks in verse 30 of the way of truth. Verse 32, the way of thy commandments. Verse 27, the way of thy precepts. Verse 26 speaks there of the my ways, and thou heardest me teach me thy statute. He talks about the ways of truth, the ways of God's commandments, the ways of God's precept. But in the midst of that section of the psalm, he deals with the way of lying. And it almost suggests that there's a habit there of lying. It's possible for a person to fall into a way of lying. And if young people develop that kind of way as they're young, and they don't see the danger of that, and it's not dealt with, and they're not bringing that problem to the Lord and crying for victory over it, then they fall into a way of lying as they grow older. It's true in many, many aspects of life. Many particular sins, they become habits that are hard to break. And even it seems in 1 Samuel chapter eight that Samuel's sons are in that way that becomes so public. that even Samuel, their father, gets to hear about it. And that's something we ought to remember, something that young people need to be very careful about, forming habits, forming habits when they're young that are going to have a very dreadful impact upon them as they grow older. That's why David prays against his secret sins, lest those secret sins become public sins. So let's be very careful there. I see too when I read about these two young men that wrong company leads to wrong conduct. Is it not interesting that in both cases, I'm thinking now of Eli's family and now in Samuel's family, in both cases it's recorded that two sons are involved together. Half now in Phineas in Eli's case and Joel and Abiah in Samuel's case. I don't think it stretches the thought here that one brother feeds off the other, probably in both cases. Hophni is encouraged by Phineas and Phineas is encouraged by Hophni. Joel and Abiah are the same. One encourages the other. along a path that's rebellious towards God. In Proverbs chapter 1 you read there of those who say to the young man, come with us. Come with us and we'll lie in wait. Come with us and we'll lie for blood. Come with us and we'll rob. And there's an influence there of company. I think of Joel and Abiah and both of them. His sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after Lucre and took bribes and perverted judgment. One encouraged the other. One fed off the other when it came to the matter of sin. And people will do things in groups. They will do things in company that they will never do on their own. Company is a great factor in the lives of young people. Absalom surrounded himself by the worst kind of people and thus his rebellion was fueled against David, his father. You take young people who are brought up in Christian homes, sheltered, guarded, taught the things of God. They go out into school or into the place of work. gain a little independence, opportunity to travel a little bit more on their own, start to drive, a little bit of money, and they go here and there and they're not under the gaze of their parents as once they were. And if they get into the wrong kind of company, very often you can watch that young person go the wrong direction. Because company has a big factor. And when young people are Considering the company they keep, whether it's just generally or whether it comes to the point of dating, then you need to be very careful. Very careful. And parents ought to be very careful too. Just who are your children with? Where are they going? What are they doing? I don't think it's enough just to say, well, they're getting older. We've got to be active in knowing who our children are keeping company with. because company can be the means of either making or breaking many young people. How many have just gone astray because they have kept the wrong company. I see to hear that sin will always be discovered and unearthed. In verse two there, it reads that they were made judges in Beersheba, or at least that's where they judged. Now I know that from 1 Samuel chapter three, that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord from Dan to Beersheba. Dan's in the north and Beersheba's in the south. So Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord right from the north to the south, from the east to the west of the land of Israel. In 1 Samuel chapter 7, if you look back there at verse 16, it speaks of Samuel going from year to year in circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and that he lived in, in verse 17, we know that he lived in the place called Ramah. So he's established, I think as a younger man, he's traveling much Further afield, he's established from Dan to Beersheba. He's a prophet of the Lord. I think as he's getting older, his circuit and his particular circuit of ministry is around Gilgal and Bethel and Mizpah. And his sons are judges in Beersheba. There's quite a distance between Gilgal and Bethel and Mizpah and that place Beersheba in the south. It doesn't seem that Samuel is going in his circuit as far south as Beersheba. His sons are there. Maybe that he has them there to deputize for him, to be the judges in his absence. That may or may not be the case. But it seems that he wasn't with them. And if he wasn't with them, they lived as they pleased. And they perverted judgment and they took bribes and they sinned against the Lord. Isn't that what happens sometimes? Young people get away from home. They think they have liberty. They think they have freedom to do what they want, live as they like. And they do things when they're away from home that they would never do at home. Be that as it may, their sin became known. And they come, the elders come to Samuel and say, thou art old and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now you make us akin to judges like all the nations. Their sin was talked about. It's a strange thing, but our sins become known. And even though we may not be at home, I know there are some college students here, and I'm not suggesting this is applicable to you, but it's very important to keep in mind. Do not do things away from home. that you would never have thought of doing if you were at home and your parents were there. But this produced a great crisis in Samuel's home, in his own personal life. He hears words from the elders of Israel that his sons are not walking in his ways, and all of these aspects are here, and that brings a crisis to him personally. I said there were two parts to the crisis. The other one was national, because as they come and tell him this report in verse five, behold, thou art old and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us akin to judges like all the nations. Not only are they telling Samuel, now personally, your sons are not walking in your ways, but in the light of that, and the fact that you're getting old, Samuel, we want a king. And they provide three reasons. One, he is old. He's an old man. And the sons did not walk after his ways, and they wanted to be like other nations. Verse 20 carries the same phrase, like all the nations. As I looked at that again this past week, a thought struck me here. There is no reference to the Lord. They come to Samuel and they say, we want a king because you're old. We want a king because your sons are not walking in your ways. And we want a king because we want to be like the other nations around us. There's no reference to the Lord's will, no reference to the Lord's word, no reference to them seeking God in prayer. And it made me think that here were people, the elders of Israel who had ambitions that did not involve God, except to reject him. And we know that from verse seven and verse eight. They wanted to move into another era, into another chapter in their history. And they wanted to move into that chapter without God. Verse seven makes that clear. The Lord says to Samuel, they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. Here are men with ambition that did not involve God. Now that's a crisis. It's a crisis for any nation. when those in leadership have no desire for God. It's a tragedy, it's a crisis in any situation where people want another era, another chapter without any reference to the Lord. This demand for a king, this rejection of God was marked with sinful ingratitude. Had God ever failed them? Had God failed to protect them? Had God failed to provide for them? Had God failed to undertake in all their various circumstances? Had God failed to raise up men at the right time, men who knew his word, men who could bring his truth and give them direction? No, he hadn't. He had never failed these people. He speaks there in verse eight, according to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day. It was the Lord who brought them up out of Egypt. the Lord who had brought them up out of their bondage. But now they rejected him. There was no recollection of the past mercies of God, no recollection of what God had been doing for them. Right throughout their history, the power that God had shown on their behalf, their desire for a king, their rejection of God was marked with sinful ingratitude. And when people forget what God has done, they very often turn away from him. The demand for a king was thoroughly unreasonable too. You know, they talk there about Samuel being old, they're asking for a king that they might be like the other nations. Did they not stop to think what were those other nations really like? I think there was some aspect where they coveted, they desired what the other nations had and so they did not want the Lord. It was unreasonable. No one would guide them, no one would direct them, no one would provide for them as much as the Lord had done. The demand for the cane was as a result of unwise and foolish priorities. What were they going to gain by having a cane? A cane like the other nations? Fame? Status? Some kind of military presence where the cane would go out and lead them into battle? I think part of the argument here is that they didn't want to be different from the other nations. So what they say in verse five, make us akin to judge us like all the nations. They wanted to be like the nations. Didn't want to be different. A hatred of being different, a dislike of being different has led many a person to rebel and depart from the Lord. Who wants to be the odd one out? Who wants to be strange, appeared strange or considered strange in this world? Who wants to be different? In a society where there are so many particular categories and so many particular ideals that people think you ought to fall into and there's a particular mold that you have to meet and that kind of pressure is put upon young people, it's put upon older people too. We've got to conform to what is the norm in society. No one wants to be different. And very often when that kind of thinking takes root in our hearts, we don't want to be different. We want to be acceptable. We want to be like other people. It leads to a departure from the things of God, a departure from the word of God. We begin to do things, say things, think things that are contrary to God's word in order to be like the people of the world. Believer, that's a very dangerous position to be in. where we are afraid to be different for Christ, where we are afraid, where we are reluctant to be set apart for him and set apart onto him more and more, I suppose it comes to an issue of separation, where we are separated onto the gospel, where there is a positive desire to live for God's glory and God's holiness and God's name and God's honor, where there's a desire to live for him rather than living for the world. These people did not want to be different. So they come and say, we want to be like the other nations. And I tell you, when a child of God begins to think like that, it's time for him to stop and just ask, where is he with God? Look where it leads to. Look where that kind of thinking leads to. We don't want to be different. We want to be like the others. The desire for the king was essentially a turning away from God. They used the argument there in verse 3 of Samuel's Psalms, they have turned aside. That's essentially what these elders were arguing for. We want to turn a different direction. We don't want the Lord to rule over us. We want a king and they're turning aside. So this produced a crisis in the nation. The whole nation was involved. The whole nation is involved in the crying out for a king and it grieved Samuel. I think we ought to understand something of the crises this man is now facing. One day he hears about his sons and it breaks his heart and he hears the nation He's looking for a king and it displeases Samuel, grieves him. So what does an old man do? What can Samuel do? He can't defend his sons. He knows also of the influence of the other nations. So how can he answer this nationwide cry for a king? What does he do? What does he do in this hour of crisis? And when we look at that question and look at the answer to that question, then we discover what we should do in an hour of crisis too. Notice Samuel prayed. Verse six, the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us and Samuel prayed unto the Lord. Samuel prayed. I think we just stop there. There's enough to fill our minds and our hearts with very profitable thoughts. Samuel prayed. priority of his prayer. He prayed before he did anything else. It seems that he has just listened from verse 5, they said unto him, Behold, I would old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us akin to judges like all the nations, and thing displeased. Samuel prayed. It seems he doesn't answer even the charges that are thrown in regard to his sons. He doesn't answer the people who have brought this request to him. He just takes it to the Lord. He just takes it to the Lord. He prays first of all. You know, when times of trouble come, whether it's in our families, church, or wherever it happens to be, you know, we're inclined to go and tell someone else the trouble. We're inclined to go and spread that. Talk about it to other people. Go and unburden our hearts to some friend that we have confidence in. Sometimes it's the case that some will just respond by spreading the story, just for the sake of spreading something. But in a time of trouble here, Samuel takes it to the Lord. He takes his burden to the Lord and he prays, first of all. How important that is. He pours out his complaint in secret prayer to God. Hannah does the same. 1 Samuel 1 verse 16, when she longed for a son, she goes to the temple, she prays and she cries to God. And when Eli comes and accuses her of being drunk, She says, I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine hand made for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. Out of the abundance of my grief, out of the abundance of my complaint, I have cried to God. I have taken this to God in prayer. It was the burden of her heart. to get before God. I find in Psalm 102 something very similar. The very title of that psalm suggests a similar truth. When David there, in his times of trouble, cries out, and that psalm, the title of it, is Psalm of the Afflicted, where he is overwhelmed and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. Poureth out his complaint. before the Lord. He gets before God. Hear my prayer, O Lord, is what he prays in verse one. And let thy cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me. In the day when I am in trouble, incline thine ear unto me. In the day when I answer, when I call, answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten and withered like grass that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin." He's in trouble. What does he do in his trouble? He carries his burden to the Lord. He pours out his complaint before God. Psalm 142 and verse 2 follows that up with something very similar. Psalm 142 in verse 2, I poured out my complaint before him. I showed before him my trouble. I cried, I cried unto the Lord with my voice. Here is trouble in the believer's life and he takes his burden, he takes his complaint to God and he cries to God. Believer, that's how we ought to respond as well. Whether it's times of personal trouble or trouble in our homes, trouble in our families, trouble with our young people, trouble in the things of God, let's take our complaint first of all to God. Samuel prayed. He prayed on to the Lord. And I wish that we could learn to do the very same thing. How often, how often have you not gone and carried a burden for days before you realized, I gotta take this to the Lord? I've got to get alone with God and pour out my heart to him. Before Samuel talks to anyone else, he talks to the Lord in prayer. Notice too that he waits upon God to answer his prayers. Granted, he didn't have to wait very long, but he waited. He did nothing until God revealed his will to him. Verse 6, verse 7. The thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people. The Lord answered prayer. He waited. He waited until God answered prayer before he did anything. before he went back to the people. Because in verse 10 we read that he told all the words of the Lord onto the people that asked of him a keen. But before he talked to the people about the thing, he talked to the Lord and he waited for the Lord to answer him. He waited for the Lord to answer prayer. Remember Samuel was displeased. The word displeased there in verse seven has the idea of being evil in the eyes of Samuel. means the thought of brokenness, as the thought of I, and it has there the thing that's evil in the eyes of Samuel, an outward appearance. I wondered, could Samuel hide his displeasure at this? Could he really have hidden his despair, the disappointment that he felt? To hear that his sons are not walking in the ways of the Lord, to hear that people are looking for a king, Samuel takes that to heart. He feels that they have rejected him. That's a heavy burden for this man because the Lord tells him in verse 7, hearken unto the voice of the people and all that they say unto thee for they have not rejected thee. And I wonder did the Lord say that because that's exactly how Samuel felt. They were rejecting Samuel. That's what he perceives this to be. He's a broken man. Displeased. Grieved. It's an evil thing for him. And he must have just felt like giving up. Maybe he felt like telling the nation a few home truths. But he waits on God. He waits on God and he waits for God to answer him and tell him what to do. It will be good for us to learn from that also. Sometimes when trouble comes, we react in a certain way that adds trouble to trouble. We respond in a way that's not glorifying to God and not good for the situation. But here's a man and he is displeased. It's right personal for Samuel. Not only are his sons not walking with God, but he takes the cry for a king personally, they have rejected me, he thinks. But he still waits upon God and he doesn't react, he doesn't speak, he doesn't deal with the situation until God tells him what to do. And when he does speak, and we'll look at this another day, he speaks as God would have him speak. There's a lot of grace here, a lot of godliness in Samuel's response and Samuel's reaction to the trouble. I discover here too that Samuel took heed to God's word and relayed that word to the people. There's a great exchange here between Samuel and the Lord. Samuel prayed in verse 6, the Lord answered him. In verse 7 and verse 10, Samuel told all the words of the Lord onto the people that asked of him at Cain. Now that's a repeat of 1 Samuel 3. The Lord came and spoke to Samuel when he was in the temple. He told Samuel what he was going to do in Eli's house. It tells us that Samuel remembered that message until Eli asked him in the morning, what did the Lord say to you? And he told him everything. He told them everything. So even as a child, Samuel heard the word of God, he remembered the word of God, and he relayed the word of God. And now as an older man, he takes the word of God, he hears the word of God again, he remembers the word of God, and he repeats the word of God to the nation. He relays that word to the people. In verse 21, he takes the words of the people and he rehearses them in the ears of the Lord. That's what we ought to do. He comes to the Lord in verse 21 and we'll look at this when we get to that section of the chapter. But he hears all the words of the people because they're still asking for a king there in verse 19. We will have a king over us so we may be like all the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. Even though they've heard what kind of king they're going to get, they still say we want a king. And Samuel listens to the words of the people and he takes those words and he rehearses them in the ears of the people. It grieved Samuel what was taking place here, but he just went and told it to the Lord. There are things that grieve us. Things that grieve us. You know, we'd be far better just taking those things and taking them to the Lord. Just taking them to the Lord. Samuel doesn't go and speak to somebody else in the nation that he thinks he can trust and spread the thing. He just takes it to the Lord and he rehearses the words to the Lord. He just tells the Lord. He unburns his heart, tells the Lord every detail, all the words, all the words of the people. He tells them. the ears of the Lord. Here's a man and he has the ear of God in prayer. When you look at those verses, verse 6, verse 7, verse 10, verse 21, verse 22, because the Lord then answers, Samuel again talks to him. You have a tremendous picture of personal fellowship with God. This is not the first time Samuel has been in this position. He has met with God before. That's why he can do this. That's why this is such a natural thing to Samuel. I don't believe this was just suddenly emergency praying on Samuel's behalf. Crisis comes and Samuel doesn't know what to do, well let's just pray about it. Here's a man and this has been his habit throughout his life. He's a man of prayer. That's why the nation in chapter 7 said, cease not to cry unto God for us. They knew him to be a man of prayer. And believer, if we're going to pray like this and deal with trouble like this when it comes, we've got to be like this when there is not trouble. Not the first time Samuel prayed like this. Not the first time he waited upon God like this. This was his custom. This was his habit. Let us make it a habit of carrying everything to God in prayer. He went to God discouraged and disappointed, but he was able, even for all of that, to pour out his heart. Sometimes it's hard to pray. Sometimes it's hard to pray when things are not going the way we think they should. We find it difficult just to get before God. Sometimes we don't even know what to pray. Let's get before him. It even is just the groaning of our hearts, the tears from our eyes, the sighing of our souls. That's a crying unto God. That's more than just putting words together. I'm not sure who it was, but a writer said it's better to have a heart without words than words without a heart when it comes to prayer. We can, we should, even when we're discouraged and disappointed and grieved, We ought to pour out our hearts before him. I know too that God had the answer. God had the answer to Samuel's despair. Perhaps not the answer he expected, but God had the answer. You see, God wasn't taken by surprise by this. He wasn't taken by surprise. Samuel was, it seems. He wasn't expecting the cry for a king. But the Lord's not taken by surprise by the troubles we face. And he always, always has a word in season for us. The Lord had the answer here for Samuel. And I'll come back to that answer next time. Just what the Lord said to him, hearken, hearken unto the voice of the people. They haven't rejected you, they've rejected me. But the Lord had the answer for Samuel. And believer, the Lord has the answer for us. In our times of trouble, we have a God who sits upon the throne, who is able to speak a word in season to those who are weary. He's able to guide, he's able to direct us, he's able to show us his will and show us his path. And that's exactly what happens here. And God write these things upon our hearts even today. In the midst of our troubles, let's ever look to him. We can come, we can come. If we take nothing else away, take those two words in verse six, Samuel prayed. Samuel prayed. It's good for us sometimes to say nothing to anyone else, but just to pray. May the Lord come and write his word upon our hearts for Jesus' sake. We'll come back to this next time in regard to God, And his answer to the cry for the king, he knows what's taking place here, but he tells them, give them a king. Give them a king. God is in control. And of course, we mentioned last Lord's Day, this paves the way for the king, the coming of the king. And we rejoice in God's great purposes that are impossible to frustrate. where God is on the throne. Let's seek the Lord in prayer. I trust the Lord will bless these thoughts to our hearts this morning. Heavenly Father, we thank thee for thy goodness, thy grace, and thy mercy to us another day. Write these things upon our hearts, Lord. We think of Samuel, with all his discouragements and all his disappointments, and able to carry these things to thee in prayer. Lord, teach us to do the same. Save us from doing our own thing and going our own direction. Seeking to unravel the way forward by ourselves. Lord, teach us thy way. Teach us thy way. And Lord, we pray thy blessing might rest upon us. So be with us today as we continue in thy house this morning, again tonight. Pour out thy spirit upon us. Bless our time here, we pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen.