3rd June 2026

3rd June 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 Samuel 30 focus v7-8)


Message (Alan Burke)


I’ve likely said this before, but you know there are times that having a big neon sign in the sky to give me the answer or to tell me where to go would be helpful. Maybe that is just me who is faced with indecision, quandaries, or needing direction. Or maybe you’re one of those impulsive people that never need to think through what you’re going to do or the decisions that you make, and somehow you always seem to make the right one and land on your feet. I suspect though that even for those people who seem to be impulsive and land on their feet, there are times too that they are faced with indecision, quandaries, and needing direction. As we pick up today, David’s at a low point. He’s cried his eyes out along with his men. For when they returned home to Ziklag, they found that it had been raided, burned to the ground, and the women and all who were in it were taken. We know it was the Amalekites, but at this stage, David didn’t, and what made matters worse is that his men wanted to stone him. 


David, in the midst of this situation, found his strength in the LORD. He found strength in the promises of the LORD, and while he might have wished for a big neon sign in the sky, not of course, he would have known what that was. He did have Abiathar the priest. He was the only survivor of the massacre at Nob at the hands of Saul, and he had brought the Ephod with the Urim and Thummim that were to discern the will of God. We don’t know exactly what they were, but using them, David is able to discern the will of God, which was that David was to pursue them, that he would overtake and succeed in the rescue. 


Before we move on, we do not have an ephod with the Urim and Thummim. We might think that it would be quite handy; we’d never need to make any decisions again; we can just whip out the Urim and Thummim. We might want a neon sign in the sky, but the LORD has given us everything we need in his Word, and the Scriptures principally teach what we are to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of us. It is everything we need. We may want the Urim and Thummim, a neon sign, but for us, if we want to know the will of God in our lives, then it is to the Word of God that we must look to, and it means that we must know his Word; we must know our Bibles. And when we know it, in order to live in response to it, to trust in it. There are lots of people I’ve come across who have been paralysed by indecision in their lives; they look to God for his guidance like rubbing the Greenies lamp, but God has given us all the guidance we need. Instead of being paralysed by indecision, we should make decisions that are based on biblical principles. 


The Lord gives us great freedom: who we marry, where we work, what job we do, where we live; he lays out principles that help us to live in accordance with his will. Yet the reason that we often struggle to do this, well, there are two reasons: the first is because we don’t want to; there is a cost to live in conformity with the Word of God; at times, it comes to a cost; the second is because we don’t know our Bibles. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). Do we love the LORD enough to keep his commandments, to follow his Word? For how we respond to the Word of God reveals whether we love him or not. If we hear the Word of God, if we know its truth, then we should be those who live in accordance with his Word. A neon sign might be a handy job, but think of the light pollution if there was one up there even just for me, and we may want the Urim and Thummim, but brother and sister, we have everything we need to know how to glorify God and enjoy him in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q84 What doth every sin deserve?
A. Every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.
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