Sermon Audio

Redeemer Church of Waterford

Going Home...And There is No Home

November 17, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 30:1–10

How can it cany any worse? All of us have asked this question when circumstances have overwhelmed us. Almost since our first meeting David in 1 Samuel 16, he has lived his life as a fugitive from Saul and the unrelenting object of Saul's wrath. And just when you think it can't get any worse, he loses everything.

Questions Raised When Raising Samuel

October 28, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 28:7–14

When the Lord does not answer Saul's inquiry, Saul seeks out a woman with a familiar spirit to conjure Samuel from the dead. This episode in our Bibles raises some questions about the legitimacy of the occult, the ability of this woman to bring up Samuel from the dead, and whether it is actual Samuel who appears or a demonic apparition.

The Sound of Silence

October 27, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 28:3–25

The running theme of 1 Samuel 28 is the silence of God. Saul is distressed to the point of a mental breakdown. The Lord is not responding to his inquiry about a coming battle with the Philistines. He has used every legitimate means in an attempt to get God's attention to no avail, so he turns to a woman who practices divination to conjure the prophet Samuel from the dead.

When Heroes Disappoint

October 20, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 27, 1 Samuel 28:1–2

From the time David slew Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, have had a front row seat to the valor, courage, and integrity of David as he lived as a fugitive from Saul. We have come to love him, to respect him, to expect nothing but honorable behavior from him. And yet in our study today we come to a very disturbing story which reveals the depravity of David in murderous deceit. How did David fall to such a low place, and what can we learn about how we are to respond when our heroes fail?

While You Were Sleeping

September 29, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 26

The details recorded in 1 Samuel 26 are almost a mirror image of the event that took place in 1 Samuel 24. In both chapters, Saul is told where David is hiding, Saul is vulnerable to David's revenge, David spares Saul, and Saul seems to be repentant. But in between 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26 is 1 Samuel 25; and the word of God to David through Abigail in 1 Samuel 25 is critical to understanding why 1 Samuel 26 appears to be a repeat of 1 Samuel 24.

Bound in the Bundle of Life

September 22, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 25:29

In this sermon from 1 Samuel 25:29, Pastor Paul explores some "seed thoughts" from the Abigail's poetic phrase: "The soul of my Lord (David) is bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God." Abigail's expression here is covenant language, grounded in God's everlasting promise to His people to secure them for eternity.

The Mercy of God in Preventative Providence

September 22, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 25:36–44

When the story of David and Nabal begins, David is prepared to repay with the violence the insult of Nabal by taking matters into his own hands, an action of vengeance that would have been a blot on his character for the rest of his life. God intervenes with preventive providence through Abigail to save Nabal and his men from David's violent vengeance, but in doing so, Abigail was God's instrument to save David from himself. In the beginging David had only asked for the compensation which was rightly his for services rendered, In the end, God gives to David everything which belonged to Nabal.

There Was a Woman Sent from God Whose Name was Abigail

September 15, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 25:18–35

1 Samuel 25 introduces us to "a woman of good understanding" as an example to all of us of how to see God's unseen hand in the circumstances of our lives. Dale Ralph Davis says that "Abigail is the Lord's stop sign, mercifully placed in David's path." The Lord's providential intervention through Abigail restrains His chosen king from his own impulsive folly and wrong.

Answering a Fool

September 15, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 25:32–35

Having considered in the previous message the details of Abigail's counsel to David in 1 Samuel 25:18-31, we come back to consider how it illustrates "answering a fool" in Proverbs 26:4-5. David responds to Abigail's counsel with three blessings and a surprise proposal.

The Impulse to Vengeance Restrained: Who's the Fool?

September 8, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 25:1–17

David and his men have been providing protection for Nabal and his possessions. When David sends his men to Nabal to request payment for services rendered, Nabal insults David. David's response reveals a surprising flaw in David's character which to this point in our studies of 1 Samuel we have never seen. There are lessons to be learned here about the restraining providence of God which kept David from becoming a bigger fool than Nabal.

A Eulogy for Samuel

September 8, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 25:1

In a rather blunt and matter of fact way our narrator announces the death of Samuel. But God’s work in Israel did not end when Samuel died. God’s work never is dependent on only one man. In this sermon we reflect upon the life of the prophet Samuel.

Leave to Thy God to Order and Provide

June 2, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 24:1–14

David is the anointed king, but Saul is the reigning king. For years David has been waiting patiently for God to fulfill His promise to him while being unjustly pursued by Saul, fleeing for his life under continual distress. But now David is presented with an opportunity to seize the throne by force when Saul "happens" into a cave to relieve himself - the same cave where David and his 600 men are sheltered. He's urged by his men to seize the day! But he doesn't do it. What can we learn from David's actions in 1 Samuel 24 to reassure us in our own exasperation that God really will keep his promises to us?

Saul Responds to David's Restraint

June 2, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 24:15–22

In this continuation of our study in 1 Samuel 24, Saul responds to David's restraint in sparing his life.

"O God, Save Me!"

May 19, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 23:19–28

The Ziphites have disclosed to Saul the hiding place of David which initiates one of the most intense scenes in all of the book of 1 Samuel that ends with David and his men surrounded, destined for certain death at the hands of Saul and his men. But there is an unseen providence at work which is protecting David and preventing Saul from accomplishing his wicked scheme.

Saul Seeking David Seeking God

May 5, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 23:1–14

Identifying with David is dangerous. It has already cost the priests at Nob their lives, and now the people of Keilah are threatened by Saul for harboring the fugitive he seeks. But our of the evil of Saul's actions at Nob, God has provided David with the gift of an intercessor in Abiathar. Christians also know that identifying with Christ is dangerous, but He himself is our mediator and intercessor against the threatenings of an evil world.

Christ and Antichrist in 1 Samuel 22

April 28, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 22:20–23

In the character and behavior of Saul there are types and shadows of antichrist. In the character and behavior of David there are types and shadows of Christ. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the details of the events leading up to the escape of Abiathar and the safety he found in David.

God's Sovereignty in Human Wickedness

April 28, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 22:6–23

God is not the author evil. God, however, controls the effects of human evil so that they serve his ultimate purposes. There are four scenes in 1 Samuel 22 which serve to show us the ways in which God is sovereign over human evil.

Here's to the Losers

April 21, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 22:1–5

1 Samuel 22:1-5 is an Old Testament illustration of the New Testament truth expressed by the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 1 that "God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty." David continues his run from Saul, only now he is no longer alone. Everyone in Israel who was discontented, in debt, and distressed have joined David in a cave outside of Adullam where he has become their leader.

I Pity the Fool

April 14, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 21:10–15, 1 Samuel 22:1, Psalm 56

In our desperation we often find ourselves making foolish decisions that put us in precarious situations. David's fear has caused him to flee from Saul to the last place on earth he thinks Saul will think to look for him: in the enemy territory of the Philistines. But soon after arriving in Gath, he is recognized by the soldiers of the king of Gath and finds himself apprehended by them and not just afraid, but "sore afraid."

Tangled Webs and Exceeding Grace

April 7, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 21:1–9

To this point in our study of 1 Samuel, all of our encounters with David have been positive. We have seen him display valor, courage, and loyalty. He is seemingly an infallible hero. But when David comes to the priest at Nob our impression of his character is one of disappointment. David, it turns out, is as frail a human sinner as the rest of us. And yet, in spite of his depraved lying, David is the recipient of undeserved favor from God.

Parting Shots

March 24, 2024 • Pastor Paul Edwards • 1 Samuel 20:35–42

Chapter 20 closes with the bitter scene of the parting of Jonathan and David. David will remain a fugitive from Saul, yet Jonathan's final words to him are "Go in peace." How can Jonathan wish David peace when he knows full well his father's intentions to kill David if he ever finds him? How can we have peace in circumstances that cause us anxiety and fear?