[0:00] Well, if we could this morning, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read, 1 Samuel chapter 2, page 273 of the Pew Bible.
[0:21] 1 Samuel chapter 2, and I just want us to walk through what we were reading earlier on, but if we take as our text verse 12, 1 Samuel chapter 2 at verse 12.
[0:38] Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. The sons of Eli were worthless men.
[0:50] You know, when you read a passage like this one, which introduces the sons of a priest as worthless or literally wicked men, the phrase that immediately goes through my mind is that they were sons of anarchy.
[1:06] They were sons of anarchy. In fact, I don't know if you know this, but there's an American TV series called the sons of anarchy. Maybe you've watched it. Maybe you know about it. I've never watched it.
[1:17] But it's actually about an outlaw motorcycle club called the sons of anarchy. And I'm sure you've heard of these motorcycle gangs. Maybe you've seen them on the telly.
[1:27] Maybe you've heard of gangs such as the Hells Angels. They're one of the most famous motorcycle gangs in America, where they all ride these Harley Davidson motorbikes or chopper motorbikes.
[1:39] And they have their leather jackets. And they're all part of this large gang culture. And for the majority of these motorcycle gangs, they don't actually break the law. They like to be part of this brotherhood of being in a gang.
[1:53] And that's reflected by all the tattoos that they have and the earrings that they wear and the piercings and all the beards that they grow and also even the jackets that they wear.
[2:05] But there are outlaw motorcycle gangs which are involved in fighting and shooting and women and alcohol and drugs. And they live lives of lawlessness.
[2:18] They're sons of anarchy. And that's what the TV program is based upon. But you know, that's the image I want us to have as we come to this passage. These sons of anarchy.
[2:29] Because it's an image that's presented to us here in the sons of Eli. They were sons of anarchy. They were, as they're introduced there in verse 12, they were worthless and wicked men who were full of corruption, full of chaos, full of confusion for a whole nation.
[2:48] But what made things worse, what made them really bad, was that they were the minister's sons. They were the minister's sons. And so I want us to consider these sons of anarchy under two headings.
[3:02] Their corruption and their contrast. Their corruption and their contrast. First of all, we're told about their corruption. Verse 12. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men.
[3:15] They were worthless men. The sons of Eli were actually introduced to us right at the beginning of the book of Samuel. There in verse 3. We're told that the sons of Eli were Hophni and Phinehas.
[3:26] They were Hophni and Phinehas. And we're introduced to them right at the beginning of the book of Samuel. Because Hophni and Phinehas were priests. They had been set apart as priests to be priests in the Israelite community of Shiloh.
[3:42] But Hophni and Phinehas, they were priests not because they were holy men of God who had been set apart and sanctified to the office of the priesthood. No, Hophni and Phinehas were priests because they were from a family of priests.
[3:56] They were from a line and lineage of priests. And we see that because their father, Eli, he was also a priest. And Eli's father before him would have been a priest.
[4:06] And Eli's father before him, Eli's grandfather before him, would have also been a priest. And this would have stretched back generation after generation all the way back to the family of Moses and Aaron.
[4:20] And that's because all these priests, they were all from the tribe of Levi. Because out of the 12 tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi was set apart and sanctified to be the servants of the Lord.
[4:33] They were to be the clergy of God's covenant people. They were to be the ministers in Israel. These priests were to wear the clerical clothing and serve at the tabernacle and later at the temple.
[4:45] They were to prepare and present all the sacrifices that were to be given to the Lord on behalf of the people. And as you'd expect, the priests, they had this special role.
[4:58] They had this special responsibility as the Lord's servants. But the sons of Eli, they didn't take their role or their responsibility seriously.
[5:10] Because as priests, Hophni and Phinehas were corrupt. They were corrupt clergy. They were misbehaving ministers. They were, you could say, reckless reverence.
[5:22] They were vicious vicars. They were shocking servants of the Lord. And that's how they're described to us in the book of Samuel. They're introduced, they're told, we're told about them, verse 12, Eli's sons were worthless men.
[5:35] The sons of Eli were worthless and wicked men. They were sons of anarchy. They were sons of anarchy. If you're using the authorized version this morning, you'll see that the sons of Eli are described as sons of Belial.
[5:52] Sons of Belial, which literally means sons of destruction. It's a name that's often attributed and also ascribed to Satan. And that's what's being emphasized here.
[6:04] The sons of Eli, they were sons of Satan. And they were sons of Satan, the end of verse 12, they did not know the Lord.
[6:15] That's why they're described as sons of Satan, because they did not know the Lord. They did not know the Lord. You know, what a condemnation, what a judgment.
[6:26] These men, Hophni and Phinehas, these sons of Eli, the great priest in Shiloh, these sons were sons of anarchy. They were sons of wickedness, sons of worthlessness, sons of chaos and corruption, sons, literally, sons of Satan, who were using and abusing the very office they had been set apart and sanctified to.
[6:48] And we see that in this passage. We're told there in verse 13, The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot, and all that the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself.
[7:14] This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. In his commentary, the Old Testament scholar, Dale Ralph Davis, he states about those verses, he says, Worship was a farce at Shiloh.
[7:32] Worship was a farce at Shiloh because Hophni and Phinehas, they were far from godly. They were greedy. They were far from godly.
[7:43] They were greedy. And they were greedy because every worshiper who came to make their sacrificial offering to the Lord, they knew that they had to be given a portion. They knew that they had to give a portion of it to the priest.
[7:56] They knew that they had to give a tithe of their offering to the priest. In fact, they had to give, part of the offering was they had to give the breast and also the right leg of the sacrificial animal to the priest.
[8:09] That's how the priests lived. They would receive a tithe of the offering in order to support and supplement their role. That's the same principle we still use today in the church, where the minister is supported and supplemented by the tithe and freewill offering of the congregation.
[8:29] But the thing about Hophni and Phinehas was that they were using and abusing their position as priests to the point that they were far from godly. They were being greedy because they didn't accept or even appreciate what they were being given or gifted by the people.
[8:46] They wanted more. They desired more. They demanded more. And they were even determined to take more. Because above being given and gifted the breast and the right leg of the animal, of the offering, we read there that Hophni and Phinehas, they would send their little apprentice priests round the village.
[9:06] They would send them around Shiloh, banging on the doors, demanding more. And if a worshipping family were, if they were boiling their portion that they would receive back, if they were boiling their portion to the Lord for their Sunday dinner, if they were boiling it on the kitchen stove or on the pot or on the cauldron, as we read there, the apprentice priest would burst in through the door.
[9:30] He would come with his three-pronged fork that everyone was so familiar with because everybody knew that what was going to happen. And he would shove the three-pronged fork and thrust it into the pot on the stove.
[9:44] And whatever he managed to take out, that belonged to the priests. But if the worshipping family, we're told later in verse 14, if the worshipping family hadn't even got round to boiling their meat, if they hadn't even got that far in preparing the Sunday dinner, the priest would take it raw.
[10:06] And if there was any resistance, they would take it by force. And you know, you read here, worship at Shiloh was a farce because Hophni and Phinehas were using and abusing their position as priests.
[10:20] And what made matters worse was that they were not only disregarding worshippers, the worshippers in the community, they were also disregarding women because we're told later in the chapter that Hophni and Phinehas, they were sleeping around with a woman in Shiloh.
[10:35] Eli's sons, they were worthless men. They were wicked men. They were a disgrace to the position they had been given. They had completely disregarded the Lord and disregarded the worshippers of the Lord.
[10:50] They were using and abusing their position as priests in order to gain possessions and power. They were completely undermining the holy office that they had been set apart and sanctified.
[11:05] They were, as we said, they were corrupt clergy. They were misbehaving ministers, reckless reverence, vicious vicars, shocking servants of the Lord, wicked and worthless men, sons of anarchy, chaos, confusion, sons of Satan.
[11:21] And it was all because, verse 12, they did not know the Lord. They did not know the Lord. And sad to say, you look at it and you wonder, well, why is this actually in the Bible?
[11:36] Why are we being told this about these priests? But the priests in Israel were just like the people of Israel. There was no king in Israel. Everyone was doing what's right in their own eyes.
[11:47] The priests were taking what they wanted from the people. The people were doing what they wanted. Because there was no king in Israel. Every man was doing what's right in his own eyes. And you know, what it should stress, what Hophni and Phinehas should show us and stress to us is the spiritual state of the national church in Israel at the time.
[12:09] What Hophni and Phinehas should show us and stress to us is the spiritual state of the national church in Israel at the time. Because what we see here is that the church was in the world.
[12:21] And the world was in the church. The church was in the world. And the world was in the church. And you know, let's not delude ourselves into thinking that we're exempt or we're excluded from this.
[12:36] Because the same can be said about the spiritual state of the church in our nation today. In our nation today, whether we're aware of it or not, there are corrupt clergy.
[12:52] There are misbehaving ministers. There are reckless reverence. There are vicious vicars. There are shocking servants who call themselves servants of the Lord.
[13:04] And they do not, as it says, verse 12, they do not know the Lord. They do not know the Lord. And you know, my friend, the frightening reality of the land that we live in today is that there are many men and there are many women who are standing in pulpits throughout our land on the Lord's day today.
[13:27] And they do not know the Lord. They do not know the Lord. That's the spiritual state of our nation today.
[13:37] They may look the part with all the clerical clothing and the vicar vestments and all the godly garb that they have on. They may look like servants of the Lord, but they do not know the Lord.
[13:49] They do not know the Lord. And like the false prophets and priests of the past, they preach and proclaim peace, peace, when there is no peace.
[14:00] They preach and proclaim a false message of false hope. And what's remarkable, and you see it all the time, all their liberal views, they're all in line with a liberal and lawless society that we live in.
[14:14] And these clergymen, they're the ones who are promoted. They're the ones who are promoted to positions of influence. They're the ones who are paraded on the TV and the news and the radio and all these positions.
[14:26] They're paraded as innovators of the church. And yet, my friend, the reality is, and this is the sad reality of it, they are leading countless precious souls to a lost eternity in hell.
[14:42] And that's the reality. That's the spiritual state of our nation today. That's not what they wanted in the Reformation. They wanted a parish, they wanted a church in every parish throughout Scotland that would preach the gospel and proclaim Jesus Christ.
[14:59] That's what the whole purpose of the free church at the disruption was all about, to have a church and a school in every parish throughout the nation so that the children and the people would know the Lord.
[15:11] But these men, they did not know the Lord. They did not know the Lord. And you know, there's nothing new under the sun. Is there?
[15:23] There was nothing new in Samuel's day. There's nothing new in Isaiah's day. It's all there in Jeremiah's day. It's even there in Paul's day. Because you remember when Paul, when Paul wrote to his young apprentice preacher and pastor Timothy, Paul wrote to Timothy and he encouraged Timothy, exhorted Timothy to preach the word.
[15:44] Timothy, above everything else, he said, preach the inspired and inerrant and infallible word of God and do it in season and out of season. And why are you to do it, Timothy?
[15:54] Well, Paul says, because in the last days, in the last days, there will be perilous times that shall come where men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud and arrogant and abusive and disobedient to parents.
[16:13] They will be ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power.
[16:35] Frightening words. And it's all in the Bible. But what Paul says about these people, avoid them. Avoid such people. Avoid them. And you know, my friend, you know, I come to a passage like this, and the more I study Scripture in light of the state of our, the spiritual state of our church in our nation today, you know, I don't know how anyone can stay in a denomination or share an assembly with ministers and elders who do not know the Lord.
[17:08] They do not know the Lord. And you know, I was reflecting upon this passage this past week and our national problem.
[17:19] You know, it really brought home to me where we are at spiritually. It caused me to reopen an old book, a really old book. It's called The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray McShane.
[17:31] Maybe you've read the book. Maybe you know about the book. If you've never read it or know about it, you now know about it, so start reading it. The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray McShane. Robert Murray McShane was ordained as a Church of Scotland minister in 1836.
[17:48] He was ordained and inducted to the charge of St. Peter's in Dundee. His congregation every Lord's Day was 1,100 people. If you've ever been to St. Peter's in Dundee, it's a big church.
[18:03] Fool. He was ordained at the age of 23, a young minister. But McShane, he would have a short but very spiritual ministry because he died at the age of 29.
[18:15] His ministry only lasted six years. But what marked out McShane in comparison to these two men, Hophni and Phinehas, what marked out McShane was that he knew the Lord. He knew the Lord.
[18:28] McShane was known as a man of prayer. But not only a man of prayer, he was a man of passion. He was a man of the people. He was a man who preached the whole counsel of God without fear or favor of any man.
[18:41] And you know, as a pastor of a large congregation, McShane once said, and what he says, it always makes me shudder because McShane said, my people's greatest need is not my prayers, my preaching, my passion, my people skills, or my pastoring.
[19:00] My people's greatest need is my personal holiness. My people's greatest need is my personal holiness. That's what Israel needed from their priests.
[19:14] And they didn't get it. They needed holiness, but they didn't get it. But you know, McShane, he was someone who had such a burden, such a burden for lost souls.
[19:25] He was part of this committee, a committee that wanted, church extension committee, that's what it was called. He wanted to see more churches planted. He wanted to see people hearing the gospel.
[19:37] He had this desire for more and more sinners to come to Jesus Christ. And McShane, he had such a burden for lost souls throughout Scotland that he would often pray that the Lord would raise up more men to preach the gospel.
[19:51] And these men would point sinners to Jesus. And you know, with that burden, McShane, he wrote this short poem. And that's a poem that came back to me this week looking at this passage.
[20:04] It was a poem with prayerful words. Give me a man of God with truth to preach. Give me a house of prayer within convenient reach.
[20:16] Give these and give the Spirit's genial shower and Scotland will be a garden all in flower. What a prayer. Give me a man of God with truth to preach.
[20:29] Give me a house of prayer within convenient reach. Give these and give the Spirit's genial shower and Scotland will be a garden all in flower.
[20:39] And my friend, is that not what we should be pleading and praying for our nation in our day and our generation. McShane didn't live that long ago.
[20:52] And yet, how much it's changed in that time. And so, our prayer should be, as we come to a passage like this one, our prayer should be, give me a man of God with truth to preach.
[21:05] Give me a house of prayer within convenient reach. Give these and give the Spirit's genial shower. And our precious nation will be a garden all in flower.
[21:20] And you know, the man of God that's presented to us in this passage was Hannah's son, Samuel. He stands in complete contrast to Eli's wicked and worthless sons.
[21:31] So, that brings us, secondly, to the contrast. So, we see the corruption, then secondly, the contrast. The contrast. Look at verse 17. It says, Thus the sins of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.
[21:49] In the contrast, Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod, and his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
[22:03] You know, before we consider even the contrast between Eli's wicked sons and Hannah's worshipping son, I want us to notice, and I hope you've noticed it, I want us to notice the contrast between Hophni and Phinehas and Hannah herself.
[22:19] If you remember from chapter 1, when Hannah was broken, you remember, Hannah was broken, she was barren because of her painful providence. She not only felt isolated and ignored in her own home and by her own husband, what made things worse was that Hannah was misunderstood by her husband and then also misunderstood by her minister because when she went to the temple to pray, we read in chapter 1 that Eli assumed and even accused Hannah of being a drunken woman.
[22:49] And literally there, Eli regarded Hannah as a worthless woman. Same word as verse 12, or a woman of Belial, or a woman of Satan.
[23:01] And that's what we see there in verse 12 of chapter 2. The same description given to Eli's sons. Eli's sons were worthless men who were sons of Belial, sons of Satan.
[23:14] And so Eli thought that Hannah was just like his sons. Old Eli misread and misunderstood Hannah. And he described Hannah as a worthless woman probably because for poor Eli it was common to see his own sons in the temple drunk.
[23:35] But in complete contrast, Hannah wasn't the daughter of the devil. She was a daughter of the king. She was a daughter of King Jesus. She loved the Lord, followed the Lord, lived for the Lord, looked to the Lord.
[23:50] But Eli's sons, Eli's sons were worthless men. They were sons of Satan, sons of corruption and chaos and confusion. They were sons of anarchy.
[24:01] And you know, this contrast, this is the contrast, and this is the whole purpose of the passage actually, to make the contrast throughout the chapter. Because on three occasions, Samuel's conduct is contrasted with the conduct of Eli's sons.
[24:16] On three occasions, Samuel's conduct is contrasted with the conduct of Eli's sons. We see that first in verse 11. So look at verse 11.
[24:27] We read there, Elkanah went home to Ramah, that was Samuel's father, and the boy ministered to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest. Then the contrast, now the sons of Eli were worthless men.
[24:39] They did not know the Lord. Then we see the second contrast in verse 17, we told us, the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.
[24:52] Then the contrast, Samuel was ministering before the Lord, before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. And then the third contrast is in verse 25, where we see there that if someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?
[25:11] But they would not listen. So the sons of Eli would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. Contrast, now the young man, Samuel, continued to grow in both stature and favor with the Lord and also with man.
[25:28] And on three occasions, Samuel's conduct is contrasted with the conduct of Eli's sons. And each and every time this contrast is made, we're being reminded and reassured that as we read through this book of Samuel, Samuel is going to be used in the story of salvation.
[25:46] Because as we said before, the story of Samuel is part of this, of the Lord's perfectly planned and providential story of salvation. Samuel is part of the bigger narrative, the narrative that began in the book of Genesis with the promise of a seed, son, and Savior.
[26:04] And it's this narrative that's going to follow all the way through our Bible, where it's the Lord's perfectly planned and providential story of salvation. And Samuel fits into this story of salvation because whether it was a people or the priests in that day, we're told that in those days there was no king in Israel.
[26:26] And because there was no king in Israel, everyone was doing what's right in their own eyes. Therefore, Israel needed a king. We see that. Israel needs a king.
[26:36] That's what the whole book's about. And the Lord here, he's raising up Samuel. He's raising up one who's going to be holy and blameless. And this one is going to appoint and anoint David as the king in Israel because David is going to be the seed, son, and Savior of Israel.
[26:54] But of course, David is the pointer, the preparation for the greater king, the greater seed, son, and Savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so as we continue to follow the story of Samuel, we will continue to not only see the contrast between Samuel and the sons of Eli, but we'll also see that Samuel lived up to his name.
[27:18] The name Samuel means asked of God. What a great name. And that's what Samuel was. Hannah prayed. He was asked of God.
[27:28] Samuel was prayed for. He was asked of God. And the Lord answered Hannah's prayer. And in answering Hannah's asking, in contrast to Eli's corrupt sons who were meant to be the leaders, they were meant to be the priests in Israel, they were meant to be the clergy, what we're seeing here in this passage is that the Lord is slowly, but surely, and silently, that's amazing how the Lord often works in the background.
[27:57] He's silently raising up Samuel to replace these sons of anarchy. That's what we need in our nation. We need the Lord to raise up more men to replace sons of anarchy in our pulpits.
[28:15] And we'll see that even as we come to the next passage where we see the pronouncement of the prophet in the next section. Because Samuel was a blessing whereas Eli's sons were going to be under God's curse.
[28:30] But you know, as we conclude this morning, I want to say that, you know, coming to a passage like this, I found this passage very challenging. Challenging to prepare and challenging to preach.
[28:43] Because you know, in this passage we're not only being confronted by corrupt clergy in the form of Eli's sons Hophni and Phinehas, and then we've seen the contrast of a committed clergyman in the form of Hannah's son, Samuel.
[29:00] But you know, it really challenged me because, and it challenged me as a minister, not only as a minister but also as a Christian because, as you know, our Christian witness, our Christian witness is important and integral to the witness of our congregation in this community.
[29:18] Our Christian witness is important and integral to the witness of our congregation in this community. In fact, our Christian character, conduct, conversations, and commitment to Christ is important and integral to the witness of our congregation in this community.
[29:36] And what really challenged me about this in this passage, and I hope it challenges you as we conclude this morning, because what we see there is that in three consecutive verses in this passage, we are told, which, actually, the fact there's three consecutive verses emphasizes how important this really is.
[29:56] In three consecutive verses, Eli, this old man who had been following the Lord for years, this Eli kept hearing from other people in the community of Shiloh about the poor witness of his sons.
[30:14] On three consecutive verses, Eli kept hearing from other people in the community of Shiloh about the poor witness of his sons. Verse 22, we're told that Eli was very old and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing.
[30:31] Verse 23, Eli said, I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. And verse 24, it is not a good report that I hear from the people of the Lord.
[30:45] In three consecutive verses, Eli kept hearing from other people in the community of Shiloh about the poor witness of his sons as the clergy in the community.
[30:57] And you know, it really challenged me as a minister, but not only as a minister, as a Christian, because that's what I am, first and foremost. I'm a Christian. And you know, my Christian friend here this morning and watching online, we are, as the New Testament describes us, we are living epistles seen and read of men.
[31:18] We are living epistles seen and read of men. Or as the evangelist D.L. Moody once said, he said, out of a hundred people, one of them will read the Bible, the other ninety-nine will read the Christian.
[31:32] Out of a hundred people, one person will read the Bible, the other ninety-nine will read the Christian's life. Therefore, we have to remember, as Christians, that our Christian witness is important.
[31:45] It's integral to the Christian witness of our congregation in this community. Our Christian character, conduct, conversation, and commitment to Jesus Christ is important and integral to the witness of our congregation in this community.
[32:03] And so, if we're poor examples as professing Christians, and I speak to myself when I say this, if we're poor examples as professing Christians, we are poor examples of Christ in our community.
[32:19] If we are poor examples as professing Christians, we are poor examples of Christ in our community. My Christian friend, this passage challenged me so much because I thought, well, if we're poor examples in our church attendance, then others see that.
[32:40] They're aware of it. they might not say it, but they see it. If we're poor examples in our walk and our talk, then others see that. They might not say it, but they see it.
[32:53] If we're poor examples in our work, our workplace, and in our commitment to worship, then others see that. They might not say it, but they see it.
[33:05] D.L. Moody said he was so right in what he said, and it applies to our generation. Out of 100 people, one will read the Bible. The other 99 will read the Christian.
[33:17] Out of 100 people, one will read the Bible. The other 99 will read the Christian. Therefore, if we're poor examples as professing Christians, and I'm saying this to myself before I say it to you, if we're poor examples as professing Christians, then we're poor examples for Jesus Christ in our community.
[33:35] And this is his church in our community. It's not mine. It's not the elders. It's his. It's his church.
[33:47] It's his cause. His name. His glory. If we're poor examples as professing Christians, we're poor examples for Christ in our community. My friend, what we need to take from this passage, a very challenging passage, is let's not be the corruption.
[34:05] Like Hophni and Phinehas. Let's be the contrast. Let's be the contrast like this young man, Samuel, and how he was a contrast in his own community.
[34:18] Because we're told there at verse 26, now the young man, Samuel, continued to grow in both stature and favor with the Lord and also with man.
[34:30] let's remember to be the contrast in our community. Well, may the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to thee for thy word, thy word that is still speaking to us after all these years.
[34:52] And because it is a living word, it speaks to us so clearly and sometimes with so much conviction. And we pray that as we sit under the word of God this morning, that it would convict us, that it would convert us, that it would cause us to turn from our sin and even from our slumber and turn back to the Saviour and seek him more earnestly, to love him more deeply, to follow him more closely, to serve him more faithfully.
[35:20] And Lord, if we have failed thee as we often do, O Lord, that thou wouldest cleanse us. Give to us a prayer, even the prayer of McShane, that we would have men proclaiming the gospel in our nation, throughout our land, that more and more would hear of this Jesus who is able to save to the uttermost, this Jesus who hears the cries and confessions of those who come to him, calling upon his name.
[35:49] Lord, bless thy truth to us, we pray. Go before us, we ask, and do us good for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, we're going to bring our service to a conclusion this morning.
[36:04] We're going to sing to God's praise in Psalm 37. Psalm 37 at verse 23. So it's page 254 in the blue psalm book.
[36:20] Psalm 37, verse 23, down to the verse marked 27. And all of our psalms this morning, they focused upon the theme of walking, walking in the ways of the Lord.
[36:36] Psalm 1 emphasized that, we're not to walk in the path of the ungodly, but in the way of righteousness. Psalm 119 emphasized that, we're walking according to God's word. And now Psalm 37, it says there in verse 23, a good man or a good woman's footsteps by the Lord are ordered aright, and in the way wherein he walks, he greatly doth delight.
[36:58] Although he fall, yet shall he not be cast down utterly because the Lord with his own hand upholds him mightily.
[37:09] So we're singing Psalm 37 from verse 23 down to the end of the psalm and a reminder there is tea and coffee after the service before I forget. So we'll stand to sing to God's praise.
[37:20] Amen. A good man's footsteps by the Lord that ordered aright, and in the way wherein he walks secretly doth delight.
[38:00] Although he fall, yet shall he not be cast down at have as I have been young and I Ngana uamuljeta Have I never seen The just man left
[39:06] Nor gladest seed Forbretta beggars bin Is ever mine The whole unglänse The seed is blessed Therefore Depart from evil And to good And well Forevermore The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The love of God the Father The fellowship of the Holy Spirit
[40:06] Be with you all Now and forevermore Amen