Latest / HBCWestminster / Ecclesiastes Session Three 6.29.19

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Ecclesiastes Session Three 6.29.19 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  My name is Hallie. There are a couple people in here that I don't know. So in case you don't know me, my name is Hallie. Michelle Gardner. There. My full name. I feel like you have to give your full name when people don't know you, right? And most of you know that I just got back from Israel. Some of you know. And so I feel like I'm a steward of what I've seen and heard. And so I want to share just...
• 0:25
  two things, the two biggest things probably that stood out to me. But I want you to know that this is like a dream come true for me. I love Ecclesiastes. I have loved it since I was in college. Some of you have heard me say this. My college pastor taught through Ecclesiastes. And I wasn't a brand new believer, but it was new to me and it changed my life.
• 0:48
  And so I've been wanting to do Ecclesiastes for a long time. And so this is like a dream. And then to not be here for the last two weeks, even though I was so thankful that God had me where I was, was kind of like he was trying to teach me something about being content to not be here with you. And so I've been praying and praying for all of you and that you would find what God wants you to learn through Ecclesiastes. Anyway, let me just...
• 1:14
  say two things about Israel because I feel like I like I said like I'm a steward now of these things that I saw and I'm trying to remember them it was like a seminary class on fast forward for two weeks and it was wonderful but it's a lot and I feel like I don't want to lose any of it Danny asked me a question last night and I thought oh I know the answer to this but I could I could see it in my head
• 1:39
  I know I've been there, but I can't remember anything else. So I'm just trying to retain all this information. But the two things that I would say, two big things. One is I realized, and you're probably going to say, duh, Hallie. But I realized again how providential and purposeful our God is. Even the land of Israel, the topography of Israel. Of course the history, right? We all know that.
• 2:09
  seasons and how it's designed and all the things about it point to God. It's breathtaking, right? You're hearing these things and it's occurring to you that God's hand is everywhere. I've always wondered when I first read the Bible when I was in junior high, I thought, what is the big deal about Israel? And at the time I didn't know where it is. Now I'm kind of a geography nerd, but I wonder what's the big deal about
• 2:35
  this land? Why is it so important to God? Why did he choose it? Why this narrow strip in the Middle East to be his kingdom and his people? And I was reminded that God is powerful and he shows his power by choosing the weak. And he chooses to show his power through the humble. And he chooses to show his narrow path because it's different.
• 3:04
  than what the world does. And that's one of the things, the big things that I took away from Israel is that, yeah, I knew I would be seeing stuff that Jesus did and touched, but I didn't realize that every part of it points to God. The other thing that was just life-changing for me, and in case you didn't know, your faith, my faith, our faith is based on legit, real history.
• 3:35
  Like you don't have to prove to me that the Bible is true. I know it is. I know I've tested it. I really believe that apart from what I've seen. But oh my word, it's real. And even though we don't need anybody to prove to us that what we believe is true, there are tons that prove it. It is overwhelming. Archaeological things that are proof. Like, you know, standing in a place.
• 4:06
  We stood in one place, and our teacher read from the Old Testament, and the mountains that were mentioned in the Old Testament were right there. I mean, you could see them. And it was, like I said, I don't need anybody to tell me that the Bible is true. I believe that, apart from what I saw. But man, it was so cool to see things that really do prove that your faith is based on real history.
• 4:35
  And I'm sure there are a couple of things I'll say tonight that will come through that I have just seen. It's hard not to want to share some of that. But those were the two big overarching things that I saw. And it was a supreme, crazy, amazing blessing to get to go. And I feel humbled by it. And it was humbling to stand in several places and hear Solomon's name mentioned. Oh, my word.
• 5:04
  You know, like there are these gates. What kind of gate, Lauren? Six-door gate. Yeah. Six-chamber. There's a certain kind of gate that was Solomonic. And so we were at some old place, and there's this gate. And by gate, you know, to an entryway where horses—anyway, it was Solomon. It was from Solomon. There was a mountain that Dr. Bookman pointed at, and he said this would have been the mountain that Solomon went to pray on. I mean, it's just—it was like—
• 5:33
  You know those moments where you know God is saying, here, here, Hallie, here you go. This is what you're reading and have been studying for the last six months. And here's where Solomon was. And then to see the temple mount, obviously, there's nothing left from Solomon. But that's where he built the temple, right north of the city of David from his dad. And you guys, there's stuff everywhere that just screams the glory of God. So I just say, well, God, and I hope that you,
• 6:03
  Even though you weren't there with me, can see his providence in even just me and the people with us studying that and to be able to teach that. That we're going through Proverbs on Sunday morning and Ecclesiastes on Wednesday. That was all God, you know. And so the providence of his, of my faith, of him working in my life, that that's for you too. You know, that he's doing all of that. And I hope that you see that.
• 6:29
  I think God is probably trying to tell us something through Solomon. You know, I mean, you can't get around it through his regretful, his life of regret. These first four chapters have been Solomon's reflections, if you've been here the last two weeks. And thank you to Sarah and Molly for studying and teaching those. And Solomon has reflected at the end of his life about how fast life goes, right? That it's like a vapor, like steam on your coffee.
• 6:59
  Or like bubbles, right? That our life is like that. It goes quickly and is wasted so, so easily. And that's why I appreciate this book so much. It's a timely message for all of us in the world. Don't waste your life, right? And of course, God provided more providence this week. I had several conversations that lent themselves to ecclesiastical kind of living.
• 7:27
  Two are lighthearted, one is not so much. A beloved person in my life has pretty much forsaken her faith, is walking blindly. No, no, not blindly. She's making those decisions, but blatantly walking in sin, outright disobedience, but has fooled herself into thinking that it's all okay. And a year ago would never, ever have dreamed of herself being in this place.
• 7:59
  She's literally trying everything. You know, just like Solomon. And I just want to yell, you're going the wrong way. Right? I do. I just want to. And I'm praying about what I need to say. And I will. You can ask me, Hallie, have you said something? Because I need to write a letter. But it's scary to me. Another story that God provided for me this week. One of my friends, her loved one.
• 8:27
  Who, can I just be really blatant, just has a life that is not well lived. She just is bitter about everything. Not my friend, but my friend's loved one. Her life is just hard. But she finds these things to make her life all about. And this week, no joke, decided that her life was about tadpoles. That she found some wayward tadpoles. And I know it's sad. It is sad and funny. But it is sad. Found these wayward tadpoles and decided.
• 8:57
  to save them, has been calling fish and game, is indignant on behalf of the, I'm not making this up, indignant on the behalf of these tadpoles, so mad at them that they don't care, chopping up lettuce to feed to the tadpoles. And I just think, no. Right? Our life is a vapor. You don't want to live your life like that. One more ecclesiastical story.
• 9:28
  I heard recently about a man whom my niece met at Disneyland in California. And I love Disneyland. And I miss it. And I don't talk about it very much because I love it. And I don't know how you feel about it. But anyway, I like it. This man, she met him, has gone to Disneyland every single day since 2011. Every single day. Maybe he only goes for two hours.
• 10:00
  Every day he goes, I don't know if you guys have been to L.A. or Anaheim and seen the traffic, so just getting there, you can imagine how much of that of your life is taking up. So the last time I looked at his little Instagram thing, he had been 2,732 times in a row. And I love Disneyland. But talk about a waste, right? A waste. Whether it's sex or drugs or tadpoles or Disneyland, right?
• 10:30
  None of it is going to satisfy. And Solomon knows that. That's what he's trying to teach us. Tonight, we will move from Solomon's reflection, and he's going to switch to the imperative. He's going to give us some instruction tonight. He's going to help us with how to find more satisfaction in life. Ultimately, in chapter 12, he says, at the end of Ecclesiastes, he says, to fear God and keep his commandments, and that's it. That's all you need to know, right?
• 11:00
  And I think what we're going to learn tonight is going to help us with that. Help us to learn how to fear God, how to keep his commandments. So we can live this vapor of a life well. I feel a little guilty. I told the girls about these verses because, you know, I did all the splitting up of the chapters. And it's hard to fit Ecclesiastes into nine weeks.
• 11:23
  And I let everybody else choose, and these were some of the verses left, but this is a neat, tidy, clean little section of verses, and I felt a little guilty that I got these verses, and they have some bulky stuff, but it's their fault, so don't feel bad for them. Okay? Just saying that at the outset. Okay, I'm going to pray, and then we'll read the section. God, thank you for this church. Thank you for these ladies. Thank you for bringing them here tonight.
• 11:55
  I know that some of them have hard things going on at home. Lord, I just am thankful that they're here. Thank you and bless them with your word, Lord. Use it mightily in their lives. Help us to hear what you're saying and to change our lives because of it, Lord. And I pray that we would hear and see your word with fresh, open hearts and eyes. Thank you for your word, God. Thank you that it's real and true and pierces. Lord, I just pray that you would pierce us with your words tonight.
• 12:25
  Amen. Okay, let's go to Ecclesiastes 5, verses 1 through 7. See, seven little verses. I'm going to read them. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools. For they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few.
• 12:54
  For a dream comes with much business and a fool's voice with many words. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity. But God is the one you must fear.
• 13:25
  As you can see, tonight's verses are clear, easy to understand, I think. Maybe a little harder to apply, right? Our main idea, three points, is going to be our steps, our words, and our vows. And I didn't make a note sheet for you because it seemed like that was pretty straightforward. Three points. Our steps, our words, and our vows. These will be our three points. The first one is guard your steps when you go to the house of God. That's verse one.
• 13:55
  Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. For Solomon, this would have been the temple. And wow, if you've ever read anything about the temple and how they were supposed to approach it, and now that I've seen it, right, there's some things to be seen and ways you had to approach it. It's clearly spelled out in the Bible. It was clearly spelled out for them. It was a checklist of things you had to do before you could go to the temple, right, to offer your sacrifices. Each step was specific.
• 14:24
  They had to guard their steps. They had to pay close attention because why? It's going to cost them their life if they didn't do it right. Praise God, we are on the other side of the cross, right? Our sacrifice was paid once for all. But what does this mean for us today to guard our steps? For Solomon, it was the temple. For us, it's worship. It's worship. It's the church, but it's worship, right? When I say guard your steps, when you come to worship.
• 14:53
  We must be cautious in our steps and in our attitude when we come into church or into the presence of God. Because genuine worship is at stake. I know this should be obvious, and it's alarming that it needs to be clarified, but church is about God, right? It's not about us. It's about God coming here, whether Wednesday night or Sunday, we're coming to worship the Lord.
• 15:24
  to come together with other worshipers to worship the Lord. It's not about us. Francis Chan likens it to a birthday party. He says, you don't show up. I wouldn't show up to Mona's birthday party and be like, hey, Mona, happy birthday. Where's my present? Did you get me a cake? Are these decorations for me? Right? You wouldn't show up for somebody's birthday party like that. That's crazy. Then why do we show up for church like it's about us? It's God's party.
• 15:56
  Right? It's not ours. Be careful how you come in then. Right? How you approach it. You don't want to be offering the sacrifice of fools. A couple of years ago at our old church, we were leading college ministry. And I was there early setting something up. I had gone into this room and set stuff up. And then I left just outside the doors. And when I left, one of the college girls went in and she said, Hallie was here. I can smell her. And I heard her.
• 16:29
  And I think she meant I smelled good. I didn't confirm, but I do wear a lot of perfume. And I'm sorry if that bothers you, but I have to cover up some smells. But anyway, you're wondering why I'm telling you this story. Because I walk in, she smelled me. I said, oh, I'm right here. And it was funny. But the reason I tell you this is your worship is like an aroma to the Lord. It's a smell to the Lord.
• 16:55
  Just like when I walked into the room, everybody knows Hallie wears Happy Heart and by Clinique, and that's her smell, right? And I can smell her, if you didn't know. That's what I wear. Did you know that your worship is like that? That the Bible calls it an aroma, a distinct, exclusive aroma offered up to the Lord. If we're going to be careful to guard our steps when we enter into church,
• 17:23
  or enter into personal private worship, we have to make sure that we smell right, that it's the right aroma. Did you know that in the Bible, Exodus 30, you can turn there if you want to, there's a perfume recipe. Exodus 30, there's a perfume recipe. It describes an exclusive perfume that was only to be used in worship to the Lord.
• 17:52
  It's Exodus 30, and we're just going to look at verse 34, although the details start way before verse 34. They're very specific about the altar and how it was supposed to be done. But if you look with me, sorry, I keep breathing heavily into there. Exodus 30, 34, the Lord said to Moses, take sweet spices, sacti and onycha and galbanum.
• 18:20
  sweet spices with pure frankincense of each shall there be an equal part, and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the Lord.
• 18:48
  Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people. This is a picture of genuine worship. Don't you dare make any of it for yourself. None of the worship is for you. It's for the Lord alone. A fragrance designed by God only for God. It's to be unique and separate and sanctified. A holy act that rises out of our hearts.
• 19:20
  Straight to the nostrils of the Lord. That's what worship, pure worship is supposed to look like. So let's go back to guard your steps in Ecclesiastes. I would say church is not a social alternative to the world. We don't just go to church to choose an alternative to what the world has to offer. Church is about worshipers coming together in spirit and truth, in exclusivity to the Lord.
• 19:54
  Genuine worship. You know, we looked at Exodus. It has a lot to say about that. Malachi in the Old Testament was chosen, rather than the priests, Malachi was chosen to deliver a message to the people. You know what the message was? Your worship isn't good enough. Your sacrifices are not holy. You're not doing it right. Nehemiah starts rebuilding a wall. And a lot of people think that Nehemiah is about building the wall. It's not.
• 20:25
  Nehemiah is trying to preserve the worship of the nation. So he builds, starts to rebuild the Jerusalem walls. We got to see one little portion. There's some, you know, there's the new walls. But there's one little portion that they think is Nehemiah's wall. It's crazy. But that's why he did it. He didn't do it just because God laid it on his heart to protect the worship of the people.
• 20:54
  It was a problem in the Old Testament, clearly. It's a problem today. We have to be careful. We want to be careful when we come to worship the Lord, whether that's in private or whether that's at church, right, when we come in. So how are we guarding our steps? How do you enter the house of the Lord? Or privately in your own home, how do you come before the Lord? Can I get real practical with you for a minute? When I was in college, there was this saying that they had.
• 21:24
  They would always say, Sunday worship starts on Saturday night. And I thought it was maybe a little annoying at the time because I was one of those people that likes to stay up until 3 a.m., right? I know it's hard to imagine. But they would tell us that if you're going to be prepared on Sunday to come before the Lord, start thinking about it on Saturday night. Now that I'm older, I think, oh, yeah, that's pretty smart, right? We could. We could put a little more effort into how we show up. And I think that...
• 21:54
  If I could suggest that if you're struggling to get much out of the message or the worship or even your own personal devotion, your own personal worship time, then maybe we're not preparing our hearts and our minds adequately. Maybe we're like, I don't know. I don't know why I'm coming and it's just bouncing right back off of me. Well, maybe it's because you're not digging in, right? For me too, that I'm not spending enough time preparing myself.
• 22:24
  Maybe we've forgotten that it's not our party. It's not. It's not about us. We need to remember the exclusivity of worship and come prepared to listen. That's point one, our steps. Let's look at point two, our words. I'm going to read verses two and three of chapter five. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth.
• 22:55
  Therefore, let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, busyness, and a fool's voice with many words. I'm sure lots of verses come to mind when you hear these words. When we think about our mouths and our tongues and words, right? James comes to mind and you just throw that book right out of your Bible, right? I'm just kidding. But it talks a lot about the tongue, right?
• 23:21
  Proverbs has so much to say about the wise man and the foolish man, the wise woman and the foolish woman and what she says and doesn't say. This section is specifically talking about our prayers, right? It's not just our words, but our words in prayer. I think that if you were called to the White House and you were able to make some requests to the president, you could make some requests on the behalf of your people.
• 23:52
  If you were called in to make these requests before the president, you would spend some time thinking about your words. Right? I think I would. I would spend some time not being hasty with those. And how much more should we then spend time considering our words before the Lord? Will you turn with me to Matthew chapter 6? You know, I practice turning to the books of the Bible before I teach. And then I start to freak out when I'm standing up here like...
• 24:27
  To the right or the left, the right or the left. That's just a little inside scoop for you, okay? I'm giving you all kinds of good stuff tonight. Matthew 6, and then we're going to go to verse 5. I'm going to read 5 through 13. We're talking about our words in prayer, right? First we talked about being careful with our steps. Now we're going to talk about our words. And this is a pretty good place to go. Matthew 6, 5 through 13. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.
• 24:56
  For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray like this.
• 25:26
  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. When we pray, we need to remember our place. Right? We're on earth and God is in heaven. Just like our steps, we have to come prepared. Our words need to not be hasty.
• 25:56
  And they also need to not be excessive, right? God wants our sincere worship. He also wants our sincere words. He already knows all of our needs and our thoughts anyway. And he absolutely gives us access. He wants us to come to him, right? Hopefully you think of Hebrews 4.16. That you can draw near with confidence to his throne. He wants you to come. He wants you to pray.
• 26:25
  And I don't know about you guys, but when I was reading this and studying this, I think in my head I have a hard time marrying the idea of 1 Thessalonians 5.17 where it says to pray without ceasing. And then these words and ideas of being prepared in our prayer, right? I don't know if that is something that you thought about. But for me, I think, okay, Lord, you don't want me to be hasty or excessive. At the same time, you want me to pray all the time. How does that look?
• 26:54
  So I prayed about that. I thought about that. And I don't think that it means, okay, so avoid the urgent prayer. Don't do that. That's too hasty. I don't think that's what God's saying because he tells us to come to him. He doesn't want us to not give him our desperate prayer because we didn't spend time anguishing over what we were going to say. He wants us to come to him and to say those. I think the point is our hearts. Our hearts are the point.
• 27:20
  To balance that idea of praying without ceasing, but also to come to the Lord as we should. We have to continually be aware of what's going on in our hearts. We have to be confessing sin. You have to confess your sin to the Lord before you go to Him. You can't bring that to the table, right? We have to confess it to Him. We have to guard our hearts. That's how we come confidently. Whether it's the urgent prayer, save me now.
• 27:51
  Right? Or if it's the diligent, thought-out prayer, it has to be our heart. And we can come confidently without haste or excessive words. So humbly aware, confessed sin, and guarded hearts. I think that's what keeps our words in check. Humbly aware, confessed sin, and guarded hearts. Because out of our mouth our heart speaks, right? And the Lord already knows what's in there.
• 28:21
  He already knows. So we have to be careful what we say. And can I just give you another, again, I'm just giving you all the deepest parts of Hallie. Congratulations. Another personal practical encouragement. When I was younger, someone encouraged and taught me how to enter into prayer with God's words. To pray scripture. To actually use his words to pray.
• 28:49
  Because his words are more powerful than ours, right? And the Bible says that when we don't know what to say, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. And when I don't have that right heart motivation to pray, I don't know if you guys are ever at that point, where you know you need to pray, but you don't quite have it. Maybe you don't know what to say because you're so anguished, but I try to use God's words to pray. And I try to think of an example, and I didn't come up with one.
• 29:19
  But I think you know what I mean. And I can tell you an example personally if you want. But in order to pray that way, you have to know God's word. It's harder to do if you don't really digest and feast on God's word, memorizing it. In order to pray that way, which is transforming, you really have to have it stored up in your soul. And then I just wanted to say the analogy in verse 3, back in Ecclesiastes 5.3.
• 29:50
  It says, for a dream comes with much business and a fool's voice with many words. What it means is you know somebody's worked hard when they're dreaming a lot. They're sleeping because they've been working hard all day, right? When you have a lot of words, it's usually evidence of a fool. That's what the verse is saying. I like how Proverbs 29.20 says the same kind of thing. You can just write it down. I'll read it to you. Proverbs 29.20 says,
• 30:21
  Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Right? That's kind of the idea. Point three, our vows. We talked about our steps, our words, and our vows. And I'll read four through seven. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools.
• 30:59
  Have you ever in your heart of hearts made a vow to God? Maybe it sounds like, God, if you please do this, I will definitely do this. Right? Or,
• 31:11
  God, if you give me this, I'll give you this. Right? Maybe it's, Lord, I promise I will not do this anymore. Or, Lord, I promise I'm going to do this for now. Right? Obviously, God already knows what we think. Right? And sometimes we think if we just process those vows inside our head, we haven't told anybody, there's no accountability. Right? Then that vow probably doesn't mean anything.
• 31:38
  Obviously, God already knows, right? He knows what we think. He hears us, and guess what? He holds us to those promises. If we delay making our promises, or if we lie to ourselves, which is what this verse is talking about, and ultimately lie to God by making excuses, oh, well, it doesn't matter, you know, whatever, then we're not fulfilling our vows. So I pondered this a lot. I thought, oh, I think I probably do pretty, I'm fine, I fulfill my vows. And then God promptly brought to mind,
• 32:05
  Some things that maybe I don't fulfill. So again, here I'm sharing my heart with you. I was thinking about how sometimes you get that. I don't know if you do. I get that conviction of the Holy Spirit is definitely prompting me to maybe pray for somebody. Maybe I've told that person, I am going to pray for you. And my intentions are good. My vow, I want to do that. But then I don't follow through. What about...
• 32:33
  For me, another one is there are times where I'm prompted maybe to fast about something. Like there's something big going on, and I thought, you know what? Tomorrow I'm going to fast about that. And then tomorrow comes, and I think, that's fine. I'll probably just pray about it, right? I'm being very honest with you here. You know, I did. I felt like, okay, God, I never take back any vows from you. And then I started thinking about it.
• 33:00
  These little things that if I don't say out loud to somebody, I'm just thinking them through. That conviction of the Holy Spirit where you know you're supposed to call somebody or pray for somebody or fast for somebody. Right? You know those things are going on. And once you hear that call, you better do it. Right? I better do it. Because I am in my head, whether I've said it out loud or not, making a vow to the Lord. There's this quote.
• 33:25
  that I wanted to read to you. It says, people make empty vows because they live in a religious dream world. They think that words are the same as deeds. Listen to this line. Their worship is not serious, so their words are not dependable. They enjoy the good feelings that come when they make their promises to God, but they do themselves more harm than good. They like to dream about fulfilling their vows, but they never get around to doing it.
• 33:51
  They practice a make-believe religion that neither glorifies God nor builds Christian character. That's Warren Wiersbe. When we were in Israel, we were in Shiloh. And saw the site where they're pretty confident the tabernacle was for 300 years. Where God was for 300 years. And it's crazy, you guys. It's this rectangular area.
• 34:20
  And the dimensions of the tabernacle, which are in the Bible, so it's, you know, pretty clear. And it's not like it's there anymore or that it's mowed neatly. But I don't know. I was like, oh, okay. I can envision all of that here. And I didn't know if I was going to tell you this part, but I'm going to because it's cool. There's a little mountainside, like a natural, what's it called, stadium kind of area. Rocks. Everything's terraced in Israel. It's all, you know.
• 34:52
  So there's this kind of natural area around. And do you know, when the first person came to Shiloh, I don't have the dates, but when the first people started to discover this area, they found pottery everywhere, broken pieces of pottery everywhere on this mountainside, all around where they think the tabernacle was. So imagine in here, it's not as big as this, but imagine in here, there it is, and then around it, it's just like this mountainside.
• 35:19
  Where people would have traveled to go to the tabernacle, right? They had to. They were supposed to. And where they would have eaten, but they were having a holy meal and they had to break their plates and cups based on all the lists of things they had to do. So they found all this shrapnel from all those meals. Just at the top of the mountain and all around, no pottery. But just all around this area. I mean, it's crazy. There's all these little things.
• 35:47
  It's like God says, and here you go. And here you go, right? You can just see it. It was so cool. Why am I bringing this up? Well, one, because I'm a steward of what I saw. But two, because while we were there, we talked about Hannah, right? Because Shiloh is where Hannah made her vow to God. And so that's how I want to end tonight. I want to close tonight reflecting on her story. Because I think we talked about our steps, right, which is our worship. We talked about our words.
• 36:17
  This is our prayer and our vows. And Hannah, I think, depicts those things all pretty perfectly. So will you turn to Samuel, 1 Samuel 1. 1 Samuel 1, verse 9. And I know you're familiar with this story, but let it wash you anew with this idea of our steps and our prayer and our vows. 1 Samuel 1, 9-13.
• 36:53
  After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, that's where I've been, Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord, and she was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.
• 37:21
  Fast forward to 1 Samuel 1, 24. Go to verse 24. So Samuel grows up, right? 1 Samuel 1, 24-28. And she said, O my Lord, as you live, my Lord, I am the woman who is standing here in your presence. She goes back to Eli. I was the one who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore, I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord. In Hannah's life, I see.
• 37:54
  Pure worship, sincere prayer, right? The sincerest kind of mommy prayer. And a fulfilled vow, right? That's Hannah's example. And I sometimes think we put Hannah in this. She's a mom. You think she danced over there and gave her cute little three-year-old to the priest and it was easy? I don't think so. I think even in the movie that we watched there on site in Shiloh, I thought, I don't think that was an easy vow for her to keep.
• 38:24
  I mean, that was difficult. I think she knew what she had to do, right? The Lord gave her what she asked for, and then she fulfilled her vow. But I sometimes think we make it a little easier on Hannah than it probably really was, you know. Pure worship, sincere prayer, fulfilled vow. And because of Hannah's fulfilled vow, we get Samuel, right? A prophet, and God uses him. And that's what happens when we follow through with our vows. There's blessing.
• 38:55
  It's not easy. Falling through with our vows is hard. But just like Hannah's life, there's this blessing on doing what you tell the Lord you're going to do when you sincerely come before him, when we follow through with our vows. In closing, be careful what you tell God you'll do. Be careful. Don't be hasty before him in worship or in prayer or in your promises. Go before him. That's what he wants.
• 39:27
  But don't be hasty with your words, with your steps, or with your promises. Okay, let me pray to close. And then we have a couple minutes to discuss around our tables. God, thank you for tonight. Thank you so much for your word. That it's real. That you did all the things you said you were going to do. That you're going to do all the things you said you were going to do. Lord, I just pray that you would help us to understand it.
• 39:57
  Let it fill us up and change our lives, Lord. I pray that we would be women who worship you, Lord. With pure hearts. Lord, that we would be the kind of women who come before you with prayers that are sincere. God, and that you would use your spirit to direct us. And if you impress upon us, Lord, that you want us to pray for someone or be there for someone.
• 40:29
  sacrifice for someone, Lord, that you would show us and that we would follow through, God, and that you would draw us closer and closer to yourself because of that obedience, Lord. We love you. We're so thankful for this church, for your church, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.