1 Samuel 12:24 Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he has done for you. The great scientist is he who discovers some wide-reaching law of nature which explains a thousand facts otherwise disconnected and inexplicable; the great historian is he who seizes some deep social law which determines the development of nations through long periods. Men of lesser genius seek to understand things superficially, and to correct them one by one, but the masters get to the root principle, the dominant law, the prevailing tendency. Now, in our text Samuel has got to the deep and final law of human life — "Only fear the Lord." Strange, complicated, contradictory, baffling as life seems, there is one simple principle, one sovereign passion, one master truth, that will solve for us every problem, subdue every opposition, and guide us safely through every difficulty. I. LET US CONSIDER THE TEXT IN RELATION TO NATIONAL LIFE. The kingdom of Israel was at this time in the throes of a great political change. They stood on the threshold of a new epoch. They were alarmed at the change they had made in their form of government; they were ashamed of the unbelief which had prompted the change; they were full of misgiving as to the consequences of this great political revolution Then Samuel speaks: Ye have done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord, and all shall still be right. Did not our Lord teach us most clearly the selfsame truth, that everything in human life depends upon the religious idea — that the knowledge and service of God constitute the one grand question which decides all other questions? There can be no doubt but that we live on the eve of vast changes alike in Church and State. And not only do these signs of the times, with fear of change, perplex monarchs, but they trouble many besides. Listen to your great prophet Carlyle, to your great critic Ruskin, to your great poet Tennyson. These and many more are full of misgiving as they ponder the signs of the times. Is not our text to us a very precious direction and encouragement? In all this confusion and conflict true religious faith and feeling shall preserve us, and bring us through in safety. It will prove our sheet anchor in the storm, our guiding star in the hour of darkness, our spring of strength and hope always. Everything depends upon the religious faith and life of our nation. Let this be true and deep, and all shall be well. But it must be true and deep. "In truth with all your heart." A national profession of Christianity will not says us, a barren orthodoxy will not save us, but if the heart of the nation be sound God will not desert us. "For consider how great things He hath done for you." We have had perils before, and they were averted. The religious sentiment revived in the Puritan saved us from the terrible despotism which the Stuarts sought to fasten upon up. The religious sentiment revived in Wesley and Whitefield saved us from atheism and its horrors when Voltaire with a light heart led the French nation into a sea of blood. The religious question comes before all others, it is the deepest question of all, it decides all others. Let us be full of faith and spirituality; let us honour God and the higher law; let us be true to prayer, to worship, to God's Holy Word; let us do our duty in the fear of God; and God will untie our knots, solve our problems, protect our liberties end glory, and lead us into a larger and richer inheritance. II. LET US CONSIDER THE TEXT IN RELATION TO PERSONAL LIFE. To the individual life often appears chaotic, confusing, and we are sometimes tempted to give it up in despair. In all perplexities touching belief the best philosophy is the philosophy of the text. Proceed in practical life to perform the duty that presents itself in the fear of God, live from day to day keeping close to conscience, and the Spirit shall teach you the true thing and the right way. When Frederic Douglass was a slave, escaping from the Southern States, it was strictly necessary for him to travel by night, and his grand guide was the North Star. He knew nothing of the country through which be was passing, it was all silence and darkness and mystery, but keeping his eye on the Star of the North, it guided him to liberty. So you may mentally be traversing a land of mystery, a land of darkness and of the shadow of death, but you have a precious beacon. "Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth," follow that star, and the Dayspring shall arise upon you. Does anyone object that such mottoes as these are vague generalities, out of which we can get little good? "Only fear the Lord." "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel." Does anyone cavil at these sayings as if they were not definite and illuminative? When someone objected that the clauses in the American Declaration of Independence, such as, "All men are equal," and so forth, were but "glittering generalities," Emerson replied that they had proved "blazing ubiquities," they had poured the light of salvation on the nation's path at great moments. So with these sayings, they have a very definite and immense significance, they are blazing ubiquities, and they will throw a precious light on all the questions and interests and duties of life, as the pillar of fire lit up every stick and stone of the wilderness. In hours of deepest darkness and confusion be loyal to the text — only that, and nothing more. I remember once hearing a devout engine driver relate his religious experience. He said, "The other night when I was on duty there was a dense fog; we could not see a yard before us, but I knew that the permanent way was under us, and every now and then we caught a glimpse of some signal or other, and in time came safely to the journey's end; so," he said, "I know if I am true to the great commandments and promises God will guide and bring me through" (W. L. Watkinson.) Parallel Verses KJV: Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. |
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