Followers keep following their King.

The Israelites were getting defeated in battle.  The Philistines were winning.  They tried their own, religious-sounding, battle plan.  It failed.  Epic fail.  Then they turned to Solomon, the prophet of God, and asked for direction.  He told them the answer: worship the LORD alone.  So, they did.

When we face problems in life, it is so easy to try to come up with our own game plan for fixing the problem.  Even when our game plan sounds good, right, and Godly, we can be completely wrong.  The only solution to our problems is God.  We need to go to God.  We need to ask God.  We need to listen to God.  We need to follow God.  Only then will the problems be solved.

So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel's territory. Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines. The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. (1 Samuel 7:13-14 NIV)

Once we follow God one time and experience victory, why stop there?  We should start repeating this new pattern: Go, Ask, Listen, Follow.  The more we do, the more we will walk with God, step by step, day by day, throughout this life and into the next.

The Israelites realized what had happened.  God had given them victory.  Samuel told them that He would.  So, they turned to Samuel to teach them how to walk together with God.

Samuel continued as Israel's leader all the days of his life. From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD. (1 Samuel 7:15-17 NIV)

So, how about you?  Have you experienced victory with God in the past?  Do those victories encourage you to G.A.L.F. (Go, Ask, Listen, Follow) again and again?  Do you keep following your King?

Followers remind themselves who is King.

The Israelites had returned to the LORD.  They got rid of their Baals and Ashtoreth poles (false god statues) and they worshipped the LORD alone.  This faith got tested quickly, though, as the Philistines got ready to attack.  This time, instead of coming up with their own game plan, they turned to the LORD.  Samuel brought a sacrifice to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him positively.

While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar. (1 Samuel 7:10-11 NIV)

When we go through battles in life, we can go through them with God or without God.  When we go through them with God, it is good to take the time to pause and recognize the victory that the LORD has given us.  This pause and celebration (once the battle is over) will help us remember the victory next time we are in battle.  Followers take the time to remind themselves who is King.

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." (1 Samuel 7:12 NIV)

How about you?  Do you go into “battle” with or without the LORD?  When you fight the good fight with the LORD, do you pause to celebrate the victory?  Does this help you remember who is King?

The King receives followers back again.

Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah. (1 Samuel 7:6b NIV)

It seems strange: the answers God offers for our problems.  I have problems with money?  “Come home to Me,” God says.  My marriage is on the rocks.  “Come home to Me,” is still the answer.  My children are rebellious. “Come home to Me.”  My parents don’t understand. “Come home to Me.”  I’m hungry, homeless, in prison for my actions.  “Come home to Me.”

The Israelites finally realized that their best battle plan was not strategy.  It was not to try and manipulate God into doing their bidding.  Their best strategy in the war against the Philistines was to come home to the LORD.  That’s exactly what they did.

When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. (1 Samuel 7:7 NIV)

Coming home to God can be scary, especially when we’ve been away for awhile.  The Israelites had been worshipping the LORD along side of other gods like the Baals and Ashtoreth. Now, they were putting away the other gods and worshipping the LORD God alone. 

This was new territory for this generation of Israelites.  God was unseen.  The Philistines, however, were very real and right there.  Their fear was not of the Philistines as much as it was of God.  Their only hope in battle, now was the LORD.  If the LORD God does not accept them back , welcome them home, and protect them against their enemies; they are lost.  They want the LORD to be their King, but is it too late?

They said to Samuel, "Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines." Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel's behalf, and the LORD answered him. (1 Samuel 7:8-9 NIV)

How about you?  Do you fear coming back to the LORD?  Are you afraid God will not take you back?  Have you been away for too long?  Have you done too much against the LORD?  Or, do you trust that the King receives followers back again?

Followers return to the King.

The Israelites got the Ark of the Covenant back.  They celebrated (some) but were worried, too.  Their people died from looking inside the Ark, too!  They moved the Ark to another town, Kiriath Jearim, and then turned back to the LORD.

So Samuel said to all the Israelites, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." (1 Samuel 7:3 NIV)

Following our King is a process.  We recognize that God is speaking to us.  We take the time to understand what God is saying: really listening.  Then, we do what our King wants us to do.  Sometimes, this process requires us to turn around.  When we look for the LORD and realize that God is in a different place, moving in a different direction from us, it is up to us to turn around.

So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only. Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the LORD for you." When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the LORD." (1 Samuel 7:4-6a NIV)

How about you?  Do you have places where you need to turn back to the LORD?  Do you need to return to the King?

Following Our King

Last week, we celebrated with the Israelites as the LORD “convinced” the Philistines to sent the Ark of the Covenant, which they had captured, back to Israel.  The cattle pulled a cart with the Ark on it, taking it back to the Israelite town of Beth Shemesh.  Everyone praised and worshipped God!

But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them. And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?" (1 Samuel 6:19-20 NIV)

This seems like such a harsh response from the LORD, especially when God did all the work necessary to return the Ark to Israel.  Had they read, listened, and followed the LORD’s instructions in their Scriptures, though, they would have known better than to look inside the Ark of the Covenant (Leviticus 16, 24, etc.).  The Ark was to be handled and respected much more than this.  The Israelites at Beth Shemesh recognized that they were doing something wrong, so they sent for help from another Israelite town.

Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your town." So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They brought it to Abinadab's house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD. The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time--twenty years in all. Then all the people of Israel turned back to the LORD. (1 Samuel 6:21-7:2 NIV)

So, how about you?  Do you take the time to learn the LORD’s instructions through our Scriptures?  Would you “know better” if you were presented with a challenge that God, through Scripture, already shows us how to respond?  Would you follow Our King?