Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRO

There will come a day when, for any number of reasons that may or may not be known, you will not know where God is.

He will not be felt.

You will find yourself feeling alone, scared and helpless.

Psalm 38 (NASB95) \\ 1 A Psalm of David, for a memorial.

O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath, And chasten me not in Your burning anger. 2 For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me. 5 My wounds grow foul /and /fester Because of my folly.

6 I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long.

7 For my loins are filled with burning, And there is no soundness in my flesh.

8 I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart.

9 Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You. 10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; And the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.

11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand afar off.

12 Those who seek my life lay snares /for me;/ And those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction, And they devise treachery all day long.

13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; And /I am /like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

14 Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, And in whose mouth are no arguments.

15 For I hope in You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God.

16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me, /Who, /when my foot slips, would magnify themselves against me.” 17 For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me.

18 For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.

19 But my enemies are vigorous /and /strong, And many are those who hate me wrongfully.

20 And those who repay evil for good, They oppose me, because I follow what is good.

21 Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation! 1

BODY

A friend once said that when he reads the Old Testament, much of which is written as a narrative, he often has to slow down and ask, "Why did God put this in the Bible?"

This made a lot of sense to me because many times I just read the story for a part of what it is and forget that it is a story that can tell me something of God and His ways, or the ways of men or how the two relate.

\\ \\ The story of Samson starts out, "Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord," (Judges 13:1a NASB).

Let's hit the highlights of Samson's life:

* Born to a barren mother after a visit from an angel of God (Judges 13)

* A Nazirite his entire life (Judges 13:3-5, Numbers 6)

* Fell in love with a foreigner (Judges 14:1-4)

* Ate honey from inside a dead lion (Judges 14:8,9)

* Killed 30 Philistines after they cheated at a riddle game (Judges 14:18-20)

* Set fire to Philistine harvest fields after they burned his wife and in laws (Judges 15:1-8)

* Killed 1000 Philistines with the jawbone of a dead donkey (Judges 15:14-17)

* Called on God for a drink and God opened the earth with a spring of water for him (Judges 15:18-20)

* Was locked in Gaza with a prostitute, but tore off the gates and carried them away (Judges 16:1-3)

Stop here for a moment.

This is an amazing life.

Even among the Judges, this guy could stand out.

He took on multitudes alone and performed great feats of strength, all the while showing a contempt for God and His control over his life.

Everything was going for him.

If he was angry, he took vengeance.

If he felt randy, he took a woman.

If he was hungry, he ate.

Samson paid little heed to his miraculous birth or the guidelines set before him.

He was to be a Nazirite, which did not allow eating or drinking any grape products or any contact with the dead, yet Samson ate honey from inside a dead lion and killed many Philistines with the jawbone of a dead donkey he found nearby.

He fell in love with foreign women, another thing detested by God (Deuteronomy 7).

Yet God was with him.

Eventually Samson utterly spit in God's face, favoring a Philistine prostitute to the rule God had set for him.

Judges 16:17-21 (NASB95) \\ 17 So he told her all /that was /in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb.

If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any /other /man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all /that was /in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all /that is /in his heart.”

Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.

19 She made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair.

Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him.

20 She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!”

And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.”

But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

21 Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.

2

There he worked, turning the griding wheel with what I imagine felt like no strength.

His eyesight was gone.

He had taken God's gift for granted and now he sat, rotting in an enemy prison: blind, weak, and alone.

\\ Saul was the first king of Israel, the nation of the people of God, chosen by God himself.

Let's see some of his life:

* He was the best looking man in Israel and taller than other men (1 Samuel 9:2)

* He was hand chosen by God to deliver Israel from the Philistines (1 Samuel 9:16)

* He was a victor in battle time and time again (1 Samuel 11:11-13, 1 Samuel 13:4 , 1 Samuel 15:7)

He, too, seemed to have it all: looks, power, the favor of God and victory in battle.

Saul, too, began to do things his own way.

1 Samuel 15:17-29 (NASB95) \\ 17 Samuel said, “Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were /made /the head of the tribes of Israel?

And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, 18 and the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’

19 “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 “But the people took /some /of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” 22 Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, /And /to heed than the fat of rams.

23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from /being /king.”

24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

25 “Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

27 As Samuel turned to go, /Saul /seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.

28 So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.

29 “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.” 3

Saul, much like Samson, decided his ways were better than God's.

We was at the top of his game and felt he could do no wrong.

He found out that God was giving his kingdom to another.

He was doing the best things he could think of, but they did not please God.

He must was rejected and alone.

\\ David was Saul's successor to the throne of Israel.

He, too, was chosen by God.

He was an unexpected choice that has forever been named God's servant, doing that which was right (1 Kings 11:38).

Here are some highlights of his life:

* Killed a lion and a bear while herding his father's sheep (1 Samuel 17:34-36)

* Was chosen to be Israel's King, though he was the least of his brothers (1 Samuel 16:6-13)

* Defeated Goliath, the giant foe of Israel (1 Samuel 17:31-54)

* Spared Saul's life, though it was in his power to take the throne (1 Samuel 24, 26)

* Became king and won many battles (2 Samuel 6, 8)

Things were going well for David, when he let his guard down and turned from what he knew was right to what he wanted, regardless of what it may cost him.

The following act led to David writing the psalm from the beginning of service today.

2 Samuel 11:14-27 (NASB95) \\ 14 Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent /it /by the hand of Uriah.

15 He had written in the letter, saying, “Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”

16 So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there /were /valiant men.

17 The men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and Uriah the Hittite also died.

18 Then Joab sent and reported to David all the events of the war.