PODCAST
The Path Back
June 19th, 2012
RG AUDIO 0619121 Samuel 7:2-9
Israel was back at Mizpah in hope of national revival. How do you rebuild hope, confidence, and strength? Samuel proposed a seven-step program of national restoration (vv. 5-6):
1. Forsake the Idols: To return to God required removing all they had set in his place and to serve him only.
2. Assemble: As long as Israel remained scattered, they would be a weak people.
3. Intercede: God’s people must “stand in the gap” and pray for the fallen, near and far.
4. Demonstrate: They drew water and poured it out before the Lord, symbolically offering their very lives to God.
5. Fast: The ancient spiritual discipline combines self-denial and a refocusing of life priorities upon seeking God.
6. Confess: Confession opens the door to God’s blessing.
7. Offer: The offering of a lamb sealed their rededication, “and the Lord answered” (v. 9b).
