Friday, 19th March 2021
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
I Samuel 8 – God Knows It All
Section One: V1-3 Men Look At Men
God rules and reigns in the world and there is nothing we can hide from Him. The Israelites thought that Samuel, as a prophet, as a high priest, and as a judge, he was too busy to teach his own sons. But this is only the presumption on the surface, because even God Himself did not find fault in Samuel about teaching his sons, just like how God did not find fault in Moses about looking after his family. Whereas God talked to Eli harshly about his sons’ ungodly behaviour.
Samuel offered all his life to God, but his sons did not act righteously and walked away from God. At the end we need to be responsible in our own lives, and be faithful in the positions where God has given us. Samuel talked to God since he was little, but his sons didn’t. However God did not blame Samuel for not teaching his sons well, nor did He set a new judge, so why did the Israelites blame him?
We want to solve our own problems when we don’t see God is working. On the other hand, Samuel’s mother, Hannah, knew Eli was not a good priest, but she still trusted in him because she had faith in the God behind Eli.
Section Two: V4-9 God Looks At People
V4-5 The Israelites did not see how Samuel led the 12 tribes in unity, to destroy all the idols and bring them back to God. They forgot how every year, Samuel went to all the places to judge and to teach the Israelites. Instead, they saw the 2 sons’ incapability more than what Samuel had done for them. Do we also judge the house of the servants of God? By what we have seen, do we complain to God about who will lead us?
V6-7 God’s reaction was different to Samuel, He said to Samuel, ‘they didn’t reject you but they rejected me’! When we reject our authority on the earth, we are actually rejecting God, because we don’t believe all authorities come from God. We think that God might be too busy to care so He just set up a random person to rule over us. We end up in a ‘doing’ mode, because we think God will not care about little things in our lives, we can just deal with them ourselves.
V8 It was only an excuse when the Israelites asked for a king, they actually just wanted to do everything in their own ways! We tend to see others’ problems easily but hard to see the “beam in our own eye”. We may have this inner vow, ‘I will not do to my children what my parents have done to me’, but we may end up doing the same thing.
God does not want us to treat others from a judgemental perspective but with a compassionate heart. When we see problems in our authorities or people around us, we should bring these problems before God and pray for them. We can always find faults in others, but we cannot see into their hearts. God looks at men not like men look at men, God looks into the hearts and knows who we really are.
God knew the Israelites were like this all along, but it did not influence God’s characters, which are full of mercy and love. Therefore God told Samuel to repeatedly declare blessings and curses to the Israelites. God knows our weakness and He does not give up on us. He will repeatedly teach us and show us the way out!
Section Three: V10-22 God Did Not Abandon Men
God is our God and our King, He blesses us and calls us to be His children, He also gives us freedom to act out what we should not do. But kings on the earth will continue to demand from the people, not only he didn’t work the land, but he will also take what the people work hard for to fulfil his own needs. But the Israelites still insisted in asking for a king.
We tend to find a lot of excuses not to serve God. We compare our lives with others and we complained about what we have offered to God. Samuel named his children, ‘The LORD is God’ and ‘The LORD is Father’, but the people only wanted what they wanted. We should not make our children or our work our gods. If we only focus on what we have in front of us then we will stumble. When we offer wholeheartedly then we will see God provides for us.
Samuel did not focus on the problems of the people and blamed himself for not being a good leader, but he was faithful in carrying out God’s commands. By being at home 24 hours is not going to make our children better if we don’t follow God. The true blessing we can bring to our family is the presence of God.
Samuel’s sons were not good, but the king mentioned here seems even worse and more selfish, so “you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.” (V18) When our prayer is not answered, it doesn’t mean that we are praying for the wrong thing, but we need to examine our life.
Do we live in complaints and judgements, a life without thanksgiving, just like these Israelites? We use magnifying glasses to look at our authorities and the things they cannot do well. God had been fighting for the people all along but they wanted a king to fight for them. This has caused the history of Israel being full of wars even until today.
We need to see God’s blessings in our lives, do not be dissatisfied about our family, our marriage, our work, our church. No matter what, at the end, God rules and reigns. He does not leave us nor forsake us, but it’s easier for us to leave Him and worship idols. This morning let us be reminded that God rules and reigns until the end.
Pursuit & Respond
Lord, we know You rule and reign, but so often we forgot how You have led us until today! Your love for us has never changed, You chose us to be Your children. We showed disbelief, we stumbled and fell, but again and again, You remind us through our authorities and those around us. Help us, Lord, to only rely on You and to only look upon You. We lift up our marriage, our family, our children, our work and our church in Your hands. Amen.
2021年3月19日 星期五
-潘锡安牧师-
撒母耳记上 8
神都知道
人是如何看待王？人渴求立王的原因到底是什么？这一切神都知道，因他掌管这个世界。
一、人看人（v.1-3）
撒母耳“年纪老迈”，身体不如从前，就立了他的两个儿子做士师。撒母耳没有将他的儿子们安置在以色列的中心地带，而是安置在当时以色列最南边的偏远地区- 别是巴。“约珥”的意思是“耶和华是神”，“亚比亚”的意思是“耶和华是父亲”，在他们身上彰显了“耶和华是掌权的”，只是他们不行父亲撒母耳的道，不像父亲那样尽心于神。
人很容易就因此而论断撒母耳不是好父亲，但从头到尾我们都未看到神在这里责备撒母耳。神的另一个仆人摩西当时也并未因为没有好好照顾妻儿而被神责罚。为何神责备同样没有照顾好儿子的以利？以利看重的是神的约柜，将约柜当成偶像来拜。我们常以“要先照顾好家、教养儿女”的教会“执事”的标准来论断神所拣选的仆人，却没有看到他们对神全然的摆上。我们要知道且忠心于神给我们的位分。撒母耳从小就跟神对话，顺服神的话，神没有因为他的儿子们偏离神的道而责备他，也没有另立一个士师。人们看到的只是撒母耳的两个儿子如何“贪图财利，收受贿赂，屈枉正直”。他们不想等神出手，只想靠自己解决问题，却忘记了撒母耳。当年撒母耳的母亲哈拿面对败坏的以利，仍然选择听从他，尊荣神所拣选的大祭司。
二、神看人（v.4-9）
V4-5，以色列的长老对撒母耳所说的话说明人走在神前面。他们在用两个儿子的事情来审判父亲、神的仆人撒母耳，没有看见撒母耳当初如何照着神的话将以色列全家连合起来，一起除去偶像，悔改归向神，忘了撒母耳如何为他们代求、每年巡行以色列进行审判。他们却是看这两个儿子做的事大过撒母耳为他们所做的事。我们是否也像以色列人那样，看着神仆人的家进行批判神，要另立新王？
V6-7，撒母耳看他们的请求是邪恶的，就祷告耶和华。耶和华回答说“他们不是厌弃你，乃是厌弃我”，意思是“这些人不是拒绝你，而是在拒绝我”。当我们厌弃、拒绝地上的权柄，我们不是拒绝他们，而是在拒绝神，不要神作我们的王。我们不相信圣经所说，地上的权柄是神为我们设立的，以为神太忙了不会理我们，所以我们要自己立王。我们若觉得在一些小事上不需要麻烦神，他可能太忙了，我们自己来解决就好了，就会慢慢变成doing（做事）的模式，忘记自己的being（美好本质）。
V8，神对以色列人的评价说明他们要立王这件事本来就是一个借口，是他们自己偏行己路，没有跟从神。正如圣经说的，我们常看别人眼中的刺却看不见自己眼中的梁木。我们可能看见父母不好，就做内在誓言说自己一定不会这样，然后按照自己的方式来处理同样的事情，却发现我们还是陷入不好的模式。神不喜悦我们从批评的眼光来对待周围的人和事，我们要用一个怜悯的眼光来看周围的人，看到他们的需要，为人代祷。因为没有人是完美的，就好像以色列人将自己包装得很好，但神都知道他们的本质。我们外面可能做很多属灵的宗教行为，唯有神知道我们里面真实的光景。
V9，“警戒”-就是“重复不断地告诉”，即使这些以色列人如此坏，神也没有让撒母耳放弃管教他们。神的本质就是一位有丰盛怜悯、不轻易发怒的神，他知道我们一切的软弱，仍然不放弃爱我们，借他的仆人用尽各样的方法重复跟我们讲他的真理。
三、神不丢弃人（v.10-22）
神是我们的主，我们的王，带领我们走上蒙福的道路，做他的儿女，也给我们自由，让我们可以做不该做的事。
撒母耳警戒以色列人，地上的王是很自私的，行事为了自己的好处，不去祝福百姓，反而从他们的收成中拿取一部分，还让他们的儿女 – 就是耶和华所赐的产业 – 服侍他。可惜百姓不听，他们看到的是外面的世界比较好。我们是否看到自己因为服事神而抱怨自己不能像外邦人那样享受家庭生活、羡慕别人有钱不用作奉献。我们忘了耶和华是神，是我们的父亲，我们不要神来作王，以为自己一切所得都是理所当然。我们想靠自己得到一切，忘了神给我们的真自由。不要让我们的家人、工作、甚至自己成为我们的神，唯独要相信神必带领、预备。我们不要因为眼前的东西而跌倒 – 撒母耳没有因为自己儿子如此而放弃神给他的责任，仍然做一个忠心又良善的仆人，他也不会觉得羞耻，因为他已经完全献上给神。我们能带给家里的祝福是神的同在，不在乎时间的长短。
V18，地上的王其实只为自己而活，反观撒母耳的儿子，其实并没有坏到这个程度。所以自立新王之后，“你们必因所选的王哀求耶和华，耶和华却不应允你们”。我们的祷告若不蒙应允，不是说我们求的不合神心意，而是我们的生命不对。我们是否活在批评论断、不知感恩的生命里？我们很容易看到权柄的不完美之处，却看不到他们靠神所能成就的事。
V19-20，当以色列人如此说的时候，就将神过去为他们所做的一切事都丢弃。神之前一直在为他们争战，但他们要找人来自己争战。这导致以色列后来为奴为仆，他们选的王也不能保守他们，反而让他们一直陷在争战中，甚至亡国，因为他们忘记耶和华。我们是否一直活在一个不满足里面，常常在鸡蛋里挑骨头，而不接受神是爱，没有看到神所赐给我们在家庭和工作上的祝福？
神不离开我们，但我们会离开神。让我们无论如何都要相信，耶和华坐着为王。
*追求：
耶和华坐着为王，我们嘴里、心里都知道，可是行出来的却好像不相信、不知道。我们好像忘了主曾经如何带领我们走出为奴为仆之地，忘了过去是如何经历主的。求圣灵光照、启示我们，看到神在过去如何带领我们，如何让我们出黑暗入光明，想起神如何让我们经历他。让我们感恩、相信，神是过去、今天、未来都作王掌权的神！
主啊，我们第一次认识你时，经历了你何等的恩典和医治。你的爱永不改变，是父亲对儿子的爱。不是我们做得多好，单单因为你爱我们、拣选我们。我们虽然常常不信、软弱、跌倒，但你借着权柄和周围的人一次又一次的提醒我们，你是爱我们的神，你一直爱我们，你的怜悯亘古不变。我们将生命里一切让我们忘记你的拦阻带到你的面前，求主帮助我们除去里面跟随世界的潮流，不看周围，单单倚靠你，定睛在你身上。我们谦卑俯伏在你面前，将我们的一切都交托在你手上，像撒母耳一样做忠心又良善的仆人。当我们全然为你摆上，主你必带领我们争战得胜。让我们勇敢为主作见证，更多感恩，爱人如己，帮助我们进入命定！阿们！