Obedience

1 Samuel 15, verse 19. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, which hath gone the way which the Lord sent me, and hath brought Agag the king of Amalek, and hath utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people now you'll notice that there's a shift here because for his disobedience he will now look to the people and blame them.

The people took of the spoil, the sheep, the ox, and the chief of things which should have been utterly destroyed as sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Over to the New Testament in Mark chapter 1, please.

Mark's Gospel chapter 1. And verse number 42, And as soon as he had spoken immediately, Mark 1 verse 42, And as soon as he had spoken immediately, the lepers he departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straightway charged him, and forthwith sent him away. And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man, but go thy way, and show thyself to the priest, and offer thy cleansing, those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.

But he went out, began to publish it much, to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places. And they came to him from every quarter. Finally in the 137th Psalm, Psalm 137.

Psalm 137 verse 1, By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song, and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget the old Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy, and so on.

Likely one of the first things that we taught our children, and we were taught as children, and one of the most difficult things that we ever had in our learning capacity was the ability to learn to obey. That never comes natural, does it? I don't think any of us have looked at any particular child, there was only one child of course that ever was in the world that knew what obedience was to its fullest extent, and that was the Christ himself. But none of us that have had the responsibility of raising children have said, no, there's one here that is an exception.

Never have a problem with this child here. Everything I say, he or she does. There's always something about disobedience.

Always something in us, something in that nature of ours that wants to rebel, that wants to do anything but to obey. Sad to say, that does not stop necessarily in childhood. Because we can become grandparents and become very disobedient.

Disobedient to God, disobedient to his word. And there's very little outside of maybe murmuring that met more with the displeasure of God than just disobedience. Another way of putting it.

What if we were to ask our hearts and challenge ourselves even this week am I really living an obedient life? Well you say, I'm at the meetings, what more do you want? It's not really what I'm talking about. Though that's very important. An obedient life.

Obedient life of course is doing what God would have us to do. I want you to notice in these three passages very quickly, very simply, that what we learn in 1 Samuel chapter 15 is that obedience is better than sacrifice. That's an old one.

We've heard that ever since we were saved. Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken to the Father Rams. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

We learn in Mark chapter 1 that obedience really is better than service. Here is someone and he was just ready to go out and publish it much and blaze abroad the matter so much that Jesus could no more enter into the city. I've often wondered, did the man feel that he knew better than the Savior did? Sometimes we're like that.

We're like the elder son. Remember the elder son? He started to talk about all that the prodigal was doing in the far country. It's interesting the Savior never told us that.

He seemingly had an inside track that nobody else had of what was going on in the far country with his younger brother. Why did he know so much about it? Well the truth of it is he likely trafficked there as well. Anyhow, obedience not only is better than sacrifice but obedience is better than service.

And it may surprise you but when we come to 137th Psalm obedience is better than a song. Obedience is better than a song. You know there's something deeper deep down in Saul that was questioning the wisdom of God.

And that really is what started in Genesis chapter 3. Whatever way you want to cut it, take it apart or put it together, Adam being fed from an outside source, not that he could blame it totally on the devil you know the devil doesn't make us do anything. We have a thinking amongst us and a saying in the world, well the devil made me do it. The devil doesn't make anybody do anything.

All he does is suggest it. That's all he has to do. That's really what he was doing in Genesis chapter 3. But suddenly Adam got to think that his wisdom was greater than God's.

And sometimes in our thinking that's why we disobey because we think sometimes that well I know more than God. God doesn't understand my circumstances. He doesn't understand the situation here.

If you were to talk to Saul here and I'm sure he would have told you just exactly that. You know Saul says I was afraid. Sound familiar? Well what did Adam say? He said I was afraid.

So as a result of that he excuses his disobedience out of a matter of fear. The word of God just gives us, I don't want to say the flip side of that but the opposite of that is that the fear of the Lord causes us as believers to obey. It's not that there's a threat against our lives or souls or well-being but it is a reverential fear of God.

Saul says he was afraid of the people. In other words he was more afraid of what the people might think or say than he was about God. Isn't that amazing? Sounds so familiar doesn't it? When it comes to obedience we think well yeah but if I do this I'm the odd one out.

Everybody else is doing this. I'm not going to do it. This is what I feel the Lord would have me to do.

So brethren and sisters might we be of that kind of a spirit and learn that obedience at any time is better than sacrifice. The word of God says obey them that have the rule over you for they watch unto your souls. That might be easy to say and easy to do but you know when in an assembly where those that are the overseers are either your son in the faith or a son in your family what are you going to do now? When you go to them and they suggest something you think nah I think better than that.

You have to acknowledge like I have to acknowledge that I am called upon to obey. Mark chapter one as I said here's a man that would do just the opposite. He published it much abroad and the result of that is that Jesus could no more enter into that city but was without in a desert place and they came unto him from every quarter.

Now it wasn't that the purposes of God were hindered simply because of what this man did but naturally speaking they would have been. Here's a man that thought he really knew better than what the Lord did. But he had to learn that even when it come to obedience that it is better than service.

Often we hear the argument today that you know well I just don't understand it okay. These brethren they're wanting me to this I don't understand it. Let me suggest something to you at any time your understanding can wait so can mine but your obedience can't.

Then we have a very familiar people in the 137th Psalm obedience is better than a song. Now a happy Christian is usually a singing Christian but is it possible to actually sing and live a disobedient life? Why do these people have lost their song? It was because of their disobedience. They said how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? We usually quote it how can it's how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? You know mocking foreign tongues really had pleaded in vain for one of the songs of Zion.

Here was an outside people and they knew something about these people and they said they know how to sing. We had just a not a large tent but it wasn't a big tent at all really but in a new area where we were having meetings this summer we had some religious people come there and people that were in choirs and local churches and that. One of their comments they never said much about the preaching well maybe they did but one thing they said I remember a couple going to them they said we've never heard singing like that in our life.

Those people can sing. Well brethren may we never lose our ability to sing. These people sadly had but it isn't the outside people knew them not by their preaching not by their service so much but by their song.

Now you see their song was gone because their obedience was gone as well. You know I was just reading today there in the book of Prophecy of Isaiah about Chimesh and some of those heathen gods. Can you imagine trying to sing unto some character like that that was made and put up there and his belly was burning with fire.

You're going to sing a song unto him? What kind of a song would that be? You know something that's the songs that our world produces today. It's the songs of heathenism. The songs that are anti-God.

But what a change what a different one. They remembered the songs that they used to sing. The songs of Zion.

Whenever you're reading about Jerusalem and you're at least I found an easy way to remember it. Whenever you're reading about Jerusalem in your Old Testament you're often thinking about government. Whenever you're reading about Zion you're thinking about grace.

These were the songs of Zion. Songs about the grace of God. We never tire of singing about the Savior.

The one that brought grace. The one that brought truth. The one that was truth.

And I trust that we're marked by people that just know of that grace. They remembered their words and there their harps would hang silent and despairing upon the willows of where? Babylon. Babylon.

Place of captivity. You know at the very best as believers really we can have a hard time keeping our harp out of the willows. Because that world out there is determined and the devil is determined to take our song from us.

You lost your song today? Can you sing this? I'm not speaking about our ability volume wise. I have to admit that I blame it on the summer. I want to blame it on everything but age.

But really an attempt and maybe people come that aren't familiar with songs. I can't sing like I used to. I know that.

But I'd like to think I've still got some song there. How much song have you got? I didn't say dear brother how much volume have you got. How much song? We've lost a couple dear believers in the Maritimes of Leighton on both occasions.

And they were sisters. And there were believers that went to visit them and there were not believers that were they wouldn't consider themselves given to the talent or the ability of singing. But that's what they wanted from them.

They said could you sing us a song? I know that one dear lady and her mother that went to visit them they said oh of all people did she have to ask us? At that moment she said we wanted to call on so many people in the assembly, other sisters we knew that could really sing. Now she says you can sing me a song. What did she say we did? We did the best we could.

God help us just to do the best we can when it comes to a song. It's interesting David will give us, David really gives us the or gave the nation its first hymn book. Gave us the psalms.

As we read through those psalms I'm just going through them again myself in my morning reading and reading those lovely psalms that they used to sing. You know when David was disobedient there's no song. No song goes forth.

When there's obedience amongst God's people the praise of the song goes forth. So God help us to be reminded that obedience at any time is better than sacrifice. It's better than service.

And really it's better than even a song.