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I SAMUEL 7:12

"THE EBENEZER STONE"

I. LIVING IS A TRIAL.
        A. No one is immune. "Beloved, think it not strange..."
        B. The children of Israel were living beside the Philistines who
           were always  hostile.
                1. Always seeking opportunities to attack.
                2. Aggressive, hostile neighbors can be a trial.
        C. The Lords of the Philistines had gathered their armies against
           Israel at  Mizpeh.
                1. The children of Israel had gathered there to worship
                   God.
                2. You would think that God would protect them when they had
                   gathered before Him to worship.
                3. This is a common fallacy.
                        a. If I am serving the Lord I will escape trials.
                        b. If I am in a trial it's because I'm doing something wrong.
                        c. Trials often mean that you are doing something right and
                           the devil is angry.
        D. Many times the road before us becomes very bleak.
                1. Things have not gone as we planned.
                2. We don't understand God's ways.
                3. Under the present circumstances we don't see how we can go on.
                4. How many times have I come to what I thought was the "end of the road."
        E. Trials what can you say about them?
                1. I hate them.
                        a. I know I am supposed to rejoice for diverse temptations.
                        b. I have not progressed yet that far.
                        c. I cannot honestly say "Oh praise the Lord, He promised to
                           give me a heavy trial today."
                2. I escape them if I can, and if I can't I endure them.
                        a. My prayer is "lead me not into temptation."
        F. The Israelites were surrounded by the enemy, there was no running from  this trial.
                1. They were afraid.
                2. They asked Samuel not to cease crying unto God for them.
        G. As Samuel was offering a sacrifice the Philistines attacked.
                1. How often the enemy attacks us even in the midst of our devotions.

II. "BUT THE LORD THUNDERED THAT DAY UPON THE..."
        A. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out
           of them all."
                1. Many are the afflictions of the wicked.
                2. One overwhelming factor in every trial but the Lord.
                        a. No matter how strong the enemy, the Lord is stronger.
                        b. "There is no pit so deep that the Lord is not deeper still."
                3. Our despair and hopelessness come from our forgetting the Lord.
                        a. Measure the battle by our own strength.
                        b. Measure the bills by our own resources.

III. THE ENEMY WAS PUT TO FLIGHT THAT DAY AND DEFEATED.
        A. Samuel set up a stone about half-way back toward the land of the  Philistines.
                1. Ebenezer "hitherto hath the Lord helped us."
                2. The battle was not completely over yet.
                3. It could be that the enemy was regrouping his forces.
        B. God has helped us this far.
                1. If it were not for Him, I would not be here today.
                2. The past help prophesies future help.
                3. "Who hath delivered who doth deliver who shall deliver."