This sermon emphasizes that even in the darkest times, God has not forsaken His people. It draws parallels from the story in 1 Samuel where a widow faced immense pain and loss, feeling abandoned by God. The message highlights the importance of clinging to God's promises in times of suffering, trusting that He will never leave nor forsake His children, and reminding believers of the hope found in God's faithfulness and mercy.

My message this morning, God has not passed you by. God has not passed you by. I'll be speaking mostly from 1st Samuel the first four chapters 1st Samuel. You can keep your Bible open there and check me just to see if I'm telling you what is written in this word. Lord we thank you for bringing us through 2005 with the assurance of your faithfulness and your blessing. God you have been faithful. You have not failed us in one promise. Your word has proven to be true. You have blessed us. You've blessed us as a nation. You've blessed us as a church. You've blessed us as individuals and we return to give you thanks. And we face the future without fear. We face it with anticipation. Lord that you're going to do something supernatural. Thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your faithfulness. Now bring us to your word, open our hearts. Let me speak your mind in Christ's name I pray. Amen. I want to take you back to one of the darkest days in the history of Israel. It's one of the most incredible funerals ever mentioned in the Bible. Thousands in attendance. Thousands of widows mourning. Israel has just been defeated in the Battle of Philistines and 30,000 Israel soldiers are dead on the battlefield. Some may not even yet be buried. And in the middle of this, there's a woman standing, an unnamed widow standing in front of three caskets. Not only is she mourning, she's held up in fact by two handmaidens and she's pregnant near time to give birth to a child and she stands as a dead woman. There's no life in her. She's already spiritually, mentally dead because of her pain. And she stands in front of three caskets. In one casket is her stepfather, 98 year old Eli, the priest. He had just had word that the battle that Israel was defeated and the ark was taken. He was a fat man, the Bible says, 98. A man living in in apathy, living on phileh miyon, in other words, the best of the meats brought to him by his ungodly sons. And he falls over, breaks his neck, and he dies. And he's in one casket. And there's another casket where her brother-in-law lies dead. His name is Hophni. He's an adulterer. He was an adulterous priest. He's the one who brought shame upon Shiloh, the church that Eli pastored. The church, the center of worship for Israel. But she's standing over one particular casket in which her husband lies dead. His name is Phinehas. This woman has pain. She has streams of pain coming through her mind. First of all, the Bible gives us a clue that she had a measure of a heart for God and mourned over the ark being taken. So the ark representing the presence of God, there was something in her heart that says she's thinking the enemy has won. In other words, the devil is winning the battle. The presence of the Lord is gone from us. She stands there, and can you imagine the number of widows that are pouring into Shiloh now? I don't know how many thousands who'd lost their husbands. There are wounded men there, no doubt, that are still bleeding from the battle. The ark is gone, representing the presence of God, or God with us. And she's convinced that God has forsaken her. She's totally inconsolable. And she stands in this utter, utter pain. She has seen the downfall of the church. She's seen the apostasy. Can you imagine the pain of this woman, a priest's wife? The Bible doesn't give us her name. Can you imagine, though, the report she's had of her husband committing adultery and fornication right in the house of God? Seducing those who helped minister, those who were in the temple, the females. And she has these reports, and she sees the backsliding of the church. She sees all of these incredible things happening in the church, the wickedness, where the people of God no longer honor the sacrifices. They hate to come to church. They hate to come to the place of worship. So many fully strange things happening in the house of God. She'd lived with a prophet's warning. An unnamed prophet had come to the house of Eli and had said boldly to him, all the increase, all the children of your house shall die young. Thy sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall die both of them in one day. Now, if you're a wife, how would you like to live with that hanging over your head? Your husband is going to die. In one day, your two sons are going to die. And everyone that's left of your house remaining is going to have to beg for bread. And she's pregnant. And she's thinking of, well, what hope is there for my child? Imagine the pain at the gravesite. Here's a corrupted, idolatrous ministry, a church and ministry that's going cold and apathetic. The Bible says that they were out for themselves. The Bible describes the apostasy, the intolerance for sin. And she's carrying this triple grief, the grief of the backslidden church. She's carrying the grief of the apathy of the nation. And she's carrying the personal pain of the death of her husband. Those pains, you see, when you come to this place of intolerable pain that can't be described. Something happened to this woman. She just gave up the fight. She heard that the ark was taken and she simply gives up the fight. She tossed her faith aside to her thinking now is the enemy has triumphed over the church. There's nothing to look forward to now. And the Bible makes it clear that she collapsed. And she gave birth in that collapse. And she gave birth to a son. And the scripture says when she heard the ark of God was taken and her husband was dead, the woman who stood by her said, fear not, you've just given birth to a son. They tried to bring hope. They actually were saying in essence be of cheer. A new day is beginning. Something new is happening. There's a new birth. In the midst of all this death, in the midst of all this sin and tolerance for sin, there's something happening. There's something new. There's something fresh coming. But she was inconsolable. She wouldn't look at the child. She turned aside and said, his name is Ichabod. She wouldn't touch him. She wouldn't look at him. She turned aside. I don't want to see him. Just call him Ichabod. Which means the glory of the Lord has departed. And with that she died. I believe she died of absolute hopelessness. Paul tells us in the New Testament that these stories in the Old Testament were told to us for our own learning, for our example. And to date we face these same three streams of pain. We see a church that is in turmoil. I just came from Dallas, Texas, and there was an account in a newspaper. You know, there's such foolishness in the house of God today. Such utter foolishness that it's almost incomprehensible. There are wrestling match churches now. There are eight of them now established. And instead of a pulpit, instead of a choir or anything else, they have a wrestling ring. And the men, they had a picture of it in a story. The wrestlers, these are professional wrestlers who claim they have Christ as Lord. And they're banging each other over the head with chairs and the fake blood and everything else. And then after they give a little testimony about Jesus. And they say it's a new thing. And I was driving down the road and I saw a cowboy church last week. And absolute tolerance for sin. There's no mention of the cross. There's no mention of hell. There's no mention of heaven except here on earth. And you see it causes pain to the heart of the lover of Christ. And you see all these things happening and you wonder. I get letters from all over the world and emails and they say, Pastor Dave, what is happening? Who's going to stop it? When is God going to move? When is God going to do something about this? And then when you look at our society, you feel the pain because every day there's another attack. There is another emission out of hell. First they take the prayer out of our schools. Then they take the commandments out of our courthouses. And now there is a new, a number of states has already passed. And now this is concerning Congress, Senate and Congress. No longer can a chaplain, and this is in the works right now, no longer can a chaplain use the invocation of Jesus Christ in prayer. And you see this degradation, you see this attack against Christ and Christianity. And you see the filth of our society. Not only the gospel of greed. And this was the problem, and this was the pain of this unnamed widow. It was the greed, the greed of her husband, the greed of the ministry, the greed of the church, the greed of the high priest. Greedy men, out to get their own on the backs of the poor and the widows. You are here, if you love the Lord, you feel that pain. You feel that agony and say, God, where does it end? Incredible movie, I mean, an incredible thought. I just read the paper and it hit this week, there's a new movie out featuring homosexual cowboys. And they say that it has a possibility of winning seven Oscar nominations. It's being advertised as the greatest breakthrough movie in American history. Glorifies homosexuality. And they say this is going to change the mindset of the United States of America. Bringing new tolerance, which means tolerance for homosexuality. In your face, homosexuality. You see and hear these things happening. And the cry all over the world in the house of God, those who are righteous and those who love the Lord. They say, oh God, what's going to happen? You see, and then there is the personal pain we'll be talking about also. The very personal pain and the sorrow and the suffering that we go through as Christians. Christians are being mocked on television, they're being mocked in courts. To be a Christian now, you're made out to be a fanatic. You're made out to be stupid, to put it bluntly. You're stupid if you believe in Jesus Christ. You're stupid if you believe in prayer. You're stupid now because you see there's an attack. This is an attack on Christ himself. It's not an attack on any religious system, it's an attack on Christ. And who he is and everything we've stood for and everything we've believed. And the foundation of the blessing of God on this nation. She sees all of this. And she despairs. Folks, I want to tell you, we are not to despair. What we see coming on the world. We can pray, we can be greed, but we're not to despair. This woman gives up. There's no hope. It's all over. And she gives up in total despair. God has forsaken. He's forsaken his church. He's forsaken the nation. And he's forsaken me. And she dies in that horrible sense of hopelessness. Now let me take you back to the church of Shiloh, the church of Eli, the church of greed. The Bible makes it very clearly that he judges self-interest churches. He judges those who give themselves over to greed. Who live in greed and preach about greed. God deals with it. He will endure it so long. But listen to what the scripture says. He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh. The tent or the church which he placed among them. He abandoned it. And I want to tell you now, folks. What I see in here. I was at a place where they had television just recently on screen. And I was watching some religious programs. They had a religious channel on that thing. And I was watching some of the most popular religious programs. And every one was about prosperity. There was very little Bible. A little mention of Jesus at the end. And it was self-centered. It was nothing but greed and prosperity. God wants to make you rich. Let me tell you the problem. The thing that this widow of Phinehas missed. She missed the fact that that ark that was taken had a mercy seat. It was crowned with a mercy seat. The mercy seat represents the presence of Jesus Christ. The reality of Christ. The blood of Christ. Because the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat. And let me tell you what happened to the Philistines when they took the mercy seat. They took the ark and the mercy seat with it. See, God's a God of mercy, the Bible says. His mercy endures forever. He's merciful for the sinner. He's merciful toward the United States. He's merciful toward the church even though it's dead right now. But there comes a time. You can take the ark and you can ridicule the law. You can ridicule the commandments. And you can do all of that. But when you touch the mercy seat, judgment comes. Immediately. And when they took the mercy seat into the house of Dagon, their God. And they began to mock. And they began to ridicule. And said, we have taken dominion now over this so-called gospel of God. And when they began to mock and ridicule and deprecate the mercy of God. His mercy is everlasting. His mercy is enduring. But there comes a time because Jesus Christ is the mercy seat. Now they can curse the name of God. They can throw away the commandments. They can do all of these things. But when they turn aside and mock the mercy of God. The grace of God. And this Christ who is His mercy seat. And mock the blood of Jesus Christ. You know that judgment is at the door. And God touched. And He touched so clearly. And calamities came that they couldn't say was chance. The Bible says, they said the hand of God is against us. Because they touched the mercy seat. The very next day, Dagon is laying on the ground. His head cut off and his arms cut off. And he's laying on the ground. The mercy seat became the rod of judgment. And that's where we're at in the United States right now. God, we should have been judged long ago in this country. If we had what we deserve. Because how we've allowed the courts to shake their fists at God. If we stand now and watch powerful forces. Trying to force gay marriage upon our society. We see all of these forces at work. Folks, don't worry about it. God has everything under control. God has a plan. God knows what He's doing. But friends, we've got to know that they are. You mess with the mercy seat. You mock the mercy of God. God has loved this country. He still loves this country. He is blessed. He's prospered. He's poured blessings on this country. Beyond any nation on the face of the earth. Hoping and praying. Hoping and trusting that the goodness of God would lead us to repentance. And even now, He's still blessing. He's still prospering. It could be 206, one of the most prosperous years of all. But He does that as the last resort. In His patience. But the heart of my message is that if you allow these things to roil in your mind. If you don't see the big picture. If you don't see God just standing by saying, I'm patiently waiting. The patience of God. The mercy of God. And that God's going to take care of these things one of these days. And it'll come suddenly. And go ahead, let them try. Let them try to mock. Let them try all they want. But they've touched the mercy seat. Now here's what the widow missed. And it was right under her eyes. It was right there in her house. You see, she missed the new thing that God was doing. Raising up out of the ruins of a church of greed. He was raising a new work up. He was doing something supernatural. He was speaking. The glory of the Lord was right in her house. By the name of Samuel. He lived in the house of Eli. She grew up with this. She saw what was happening. But somehow she missed the work of God. She missed the supernatural thing that God was doing. And I want you to hear this from my heart. God's been speaking to me. Get your eyes. Get your eyes off of what they're trying. All of these forces of iniquity. Don't focus on that. Pray about it. Yes, there is grief. You can weep about it. You can stand in prayer and believe God to change things. And even in the church of Jesus Christ. Don't despair. Don't give up hope. Because there's a Samuel company God has already have in position. And the Bible says the Samuel company are those who have heard from God. Know the voice of God. Understand his ways. There was something right beside her. Samuel had to have been at that funeral. And there is the glory of God. He was going to bring back the ark. Folks, I still believe. I believe this with all my heart. There's one stream. Wicked men are going to grow worse and worse. Evil is going to be an absolute crisis. We're going to see and hear things that will cause our ears to tingle according to the scripture. But God has had a people and I meet them all over the world. I meet this Samuel company. They see. They know what's coming. The Lord has told them. They didn't have to have a prophet come to them. They didn't even have to have a watchman tell them. They're in prayer and they know what God has said. Judgment is at the door. They know that. But they know something else also. And they are not talking doomsday. They are not living doomsday fears. Because they have rejoicing in their heart. They know that God by His Spirit is going to raise up a people in the last days. He's going to have a people who trust Him. He's going to have a holy people. Righteous and not touched by the things of this world. Not given to the filthy theaters. Not given to the filthy movies. But touching God. Seeking God. Interceding and fasting and praying. And there's a Samuel company. It's in this church. It's on this pulpit. Right in the midst of the ruin of Ichabod. Glory be to God. This Samuel company is not going to concede that the world is winning. I will never concede that the homosexual community is winning the battle for our society. I will not concede one moment and neither can anybody in this Samuel company. We cannot concede no matter what it looks like. God is still winning the battle. Control. Everything is going to come out according to His plan and will. Now I want to speak. This is a short time. About personal pain. You see the pain of the church. Pain of the nation. But now I'm talking about personal pain. There are some of you here in this building. This morning that know something of the pain of this widow. It could be the pain of the loss of a loved one. It can be the physical pain. It can be a mental pain because of the trial. Some of you have such incredible personal suffering and pain. That nobody anymore can understand. They can't explain it to you. They don't want to listen anymore. And you have to take it to God. The pain of a disease. I'm talking about a pain and suffering so overwhelming. Not only test your faith. It shakes the foundation of your faith. I talked to a pastor this past week. Living in such pain. He falls on the floor in agony. Doctors can't describe it. They can't. They don't know what it is. Goes from doctor to doctor. Doesn't know what it is. But the pain is overwhelming. He can't stand hardly. And just breaks out in cold sweats. But you see. This wife of Phinehas made a tragic fatal mistake. In her pain. In her suffering. She said. God doesn't hear my prayers. God has forsaken me. God's passed me by. And you see. The enemy will come to you. When you're down. And when physically you don't feel like praying. You are so. Overwhelmed. By what you're going through. And the battle and the struggle. That when you do pick up the Bible. It doesn't register. The words just seem to run together. And then. The enemy comes at those times. When you can't pray. When you just sit there and say. God. I'm just empty. And the enemy comes at those times. That's what the advice of the devil was. When David was on the run. From his son. Absalom. The advice of his advisor was. Let's wait till he's tired and weary. And then we'll attack him. And he comes when you're down. And weary. And in living. And enduring. This pain. And you'd be shocked. This morning. If we could gather up all the corporate pain. That's here. And just put it into. To one picture. Some of you could not handle it. You would pass out. It'd be so overwhelming. And you'd be surprised among us. Who's carrying the heaviest kinds of pains. You never hear about. And nobody talks about it. And nobody could understand it. If you did tell them. And some of you have carried pain for years. But you see. That's when the enemy comes in. When you're on a cross. And says. God has forsaken you. And then the question arises. Lord. Have you passed me by? Have you blessed others? And you walk right by me. And you see. The devil will come at that time. And the heavens will seem like brass. You can't get through. And then he'll throw guilt and condemnation. You haven't prayed like you should. You haven't been faithful to the word of God. Here you go now. Weeks. And then the scripture will come. It's saying. With Joseph. The word of God tried him. And the word of God will try you. Because you'll hear that scripture that says. You have neglected me days without end. God said. And the devil will hammer you with those scriptures. When all the time Jesus is there. Feeling your pain. And standing beside you saying. I know what you're going through. I feel your pain. He's touched with the feelings of our infirmities. The Bible says. And I know there are a number of you here. Listen to me in the annex. Or wherever you may be. And you are. In a kind of situation. That nobody can console you. With the Holy Spirit. Now. The burden of every true pastor. The burden of every man of God. Who truly loves the Lord. And if he doesn't have this heart. He doesn't belong in the ministry. And it's something that I bear. And I know all these pastors bear. Before they come to this pulpit. And it's the burden of all the pains. And the hurts. That we know exist. In the people. And if we're two shepherds. And we're touched by every lamb. The challenge. And the burden is Lord. Give me a word. What can I say? What message? What scripture? Where Lord? And you pray. And you see God. And say Lord. Give me something. That will put a smile. And a song. On the lip of the suffering. And God give me something. That will cancel the doubts. And the fears. God give me a message. You see men of God don't come to the message. Just to preach sermons. And just to fulfill their time. And take a paycheck. Men of God. Shut themselves in with the Lord. And they come and stand before the flock. In pain themselves. And suffering. Some kinds of pain and suffering. That you couldn't even begin to comprehend. That go deep into the spiritual world. To the hounding of the mind. The testing of faith. That takes you to the brink of hell. And gives you a glance into hell. And say. You'll never make it. You don't have what it takes. And there's that spiritual pain. Mental pain. Physical pain. Heart pain. And we pray. Oh God. Give me a word. I pray to God. I could have some great message. I could stand here. And give you three or four ways. I can give you a whole line of scriptures. And that would change it. And yes. The word does have an impact. But it has to be received by faith. So in prayer about this message. With this I'm going to close. I pray oh God what do I do this morning. Because I am feeling. As all these pastors do. We've been talking about it. Never before since we've been here. The pain and suffering is in this past year. You have never endured more than you're going through now. Many of you. Now if you're not going through this. God bless you. Rejoice in the Lord. Call us next week. But here's what God tells me. It's been so simple. And it just keeps. This is what he's been saying to me. In my times of pain and suffering. Go to the word. Stay on the word. There's no other way. But to cling to his promises. It's that simple. There's no other way. All the talk. All the doctors. Everything else thank God for doctors. Thank God for all of this. But it comes down. To believing what God said. And just going into this word. And say Lord. I don't want just another sermon. I want you to talk to me through this word. And I'm going to close. By doing just that. I'm going to the word with you. The scripture says in Hebrews 13.5. In case the devil's telling you. God has passed you by. And God's not heard your cry. For he has said. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Hebrews 13.5. Go to Psalms with me please quickly. Psalms the ninth chapter. We're going to go to the word. And we want you to stand on that. Before we close the message. Do you have your Bible? Psalms the ninth chapter. Start verse nine through ten. The Lord also will be a refuge. For the oppressed. A refuge in times of what? And they that know thy name. Will put their trust in thee. For thou Lord. Say it. Has not forsaken them. That seek thee. Go to Psalm 37 to the right. The 37th Psalm. Folks. How many times does God have to tell us. Just go to my word. Psalms 37. Start in verse 23. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And he delighteth in his way. You're here this morning. Because God led you here. The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. Though he fall. He shall not be utterly cast down. For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I've been young. And now I'm old. Yet. And I want to tell you something. I'm older than David when he said that. And I can tell you. He's telling the truth. I've been young and now I'm old. Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken. Nor his seed begging bread. One more please. Go to Isaiah 15. Keep going right. Isaiah 49 please. Let me hear the rustling. I'm saying. Isaiah 49. I think I said 15. Isaiah 49. I'll wait till you get there. Verses 14. Will you stand for the reading of this please? 37. Chapter 49. Verses 14 through 16. 49. Is that what I said? I am old. And I'm gray. I've never seen the Lord fail me. Verses 14 through 16. But Zion said the Lord has forsaken me. And my Lord's forgotten me. Can a woman forget her second child. That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb. Yea they may forget. What? Yet will I not forget thee. I've graven you upon the cross. And upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continued before me. Thy children shall make haste and destroyers. And they that waste shall go forth of thee. He said. They may forget. But I will not forsake you. I will not forsake you. Folks. I'm sorry. I want you to be seated just a moment. I received a letter in the mail. From a mother. In a little town of 700 people in Montana. About. Well let me read some of her letter. I've asked permission. I called her and asked permission to read this. Says. Thank you. For taking time to read this. I've been involved in your ministry since 1970. I volunteered a teen challenge in the past. I've been fed by. Your ministry. There's a picture. Of her daughter. 15 year old. Raquel. And she said. The girl on the picture is 16. I'm sorry she's 16. Homeschooled. She's a joy to be around. But she has a physical degeneration of her muscles. Ligaments and joints. She's in extreme pain. 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. I lost my son to suicide. In 1997. Due to the same pain. He was 22. When he left after nine years of suffering. Took his life. He couldn't. Couldn't. Handle the pain. My daughter's condition started a year ago. She was a ballerina. In fact she was a prima ballerina. At the time. Last year. She was much in pain. In fact. This precious girl. Won the poet of the year. And she was supposed to go for the reward. And didn't have money. For travel expenses. So she missed it. And now. She also. Is in tolerable pain. And. Let me just read a little bit of it here. Raquel. 16 years old. She's mentioned in Who's Who. She's a wonderful poet. She's been published. She was looking forward to coming to Juilliard. School here in New York. But her dreams have been shattered. This summer. She was stricken with the same disease. That tormented her brother. Doctors said her pain. On a scale of 1 to 10 is 14. And that the amount of painkiller to be. Effective would destroy her kidneys. So she can't take pain medicine. She's elected not to take the pain medicine. We homeschool her.