TO READ: 1 Samuel 2:12-26
The Lordas Helper
Now Samuel, though only a boy, was the Lordas helper. He wore a linen tunic just like that of a priest. . . . And the LORD gave Hannah three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.
1 Samuel 2:18, 21
An old storekeeper once said, aGive me the help of a boy, and Iall have the help of a boy. Give me the help of two boys, and Iall have the help of half a boy. Give me three boys, and Iall have no help at all.a The storekeeper spoke with the voice of experience! Boys and helpfulness donat always go together.
It is surprising, therefore, to read that aSamuel, though only a boy, was the Lordas helpera (1 Sam. 2:18). It is surprising that the boy proved so helpful, but it is more surprising that the Lord accepted help from a boy! After all, he is almighty G.o.d. Why does he need a boy for help?
There is no suggestion here of any deficiency or shortfall in G.o.d. He is perfectly capable of running the world he created, and he has no problem managing the universe he upholds by his mighty power. But he does allow human beings to cooperate with him in his purposes. Even more than that, he delegates tasks to human beings that he specifically designed them to undertake.
So Samuel in early days learned that his young life counted for something important. While he missed out on some aspects of home life because of his unusual life in the temple (visits from the family occurred only annually), he experienced the priceless privilege of growing up ain the presence of the Lorda (2:21). In one sense, since G.o.d is omnipresent, we all grow up in his presence. But it is one thing to grow up in his presence and another to recognize it and relate to him. Many men and boys grow up without the conscious knowledge that they live under divine protection, are nurtured by divine provision, and are only a prayer away from divine empowerment. But not Samuel, the Lordas helper. Even though he was separated from his family and was raised in such abnormal circ.u.mstances, he experienced no harm at alla"as he agrew taller, he also continued to gain favor with the Lord and with the peoplea (2:26). A thoroughly balanced kid and the Lordas helper to boot!
There can be no greater privilege in life than to recognize that one is cooperating with G.o.d as he works out his eternal purposes. Nothing can invest the mundane with a sense of magnificence quite like understanding that one is functioning as the Lordas helper! That being the case, what better time for a man to learn this than when he is young? Lessons embraced in formative years become deeply embedded in the human soul and never leave, even though they may for a time be ignored. What more could you wish for your kids?
September 6
TO READ: 1 Samuel 3:1-21
Hearing Voices
So [Eli] said to Samuel, aGo and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, aYes, LORD, your servant is listening.aa So Samuel went back to bed. And the LORD came and called as before, aSamuel! Samuel!a And Samuel replied, aYes, your servant is listening.a 1 Samuel 3:9-10
People who claim to hear voices in our time are usually regarded with suspiciona"understandably so, because many of them use the voices to aexplaina actions that were bizarre or even criminal. People who say they have seen a vision are generally given more of the benefit of the doubt, but what they claim to have seen is often treated with scant regard. Of course, the problem with claiming either to hear voices or to see visions is that it is usually impossible for a third party to verify the claimas validity.
When young Samuel heard a voice in the middle of the night, he did not suspect anything out of the ordinary. He a.s.sumed it was blind, old Eli calling for help. Only after three visits from Samuel did it dawn on the priest that the voice was the Lordas. aIn those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommona (1 Sam. 3:1). So rare and uncommon were visions and messages from the Lord, apparently, that even Eli, the custodian of the Lordas temple, was not expecting to hear from him! Fortunately, when Eli eventually recognized that the Lord had broken his silence and was trying to attract Samuelas attention, he gave the right advice: aGo and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, aYes, Lord, your servant is listeningaa (1 Sam. 3:9) The question that modern men may ask on reading this story is, aDoes G.o.d speak to people today?a Different answers will come from different sources. Some will reject the idea out of hand. Others will claim to hear G.o.d speaking to them in a voice as clear as a manas voice. Still others will be more guarded and claim that, while they have never heard an audible voice, they believe G.o.d has communicated with them through the Scriptures or through a friend or even in a dream.
Those who claim that G.o.d does not speak to men today have no grounds for their unbelief. They cannot conclusively say, aHe cannot speaka; they have no reason to say, aHe would not speaka; and they are not in a position to say, aHe does not speak.a By the same token, those who claim to hear G.o.d speak to them need to beware of attributing to G.o.d their own impressions. They should test what they believe they have heard against what they know G.o.d has revealed in the Scriptures.
The key to proper listening is a right att.i.tude. Like Samuel, the good listener realizes he is nothing more nor less than the Lordas servant and is ready to say, aYes, Lord,a to what he hears.
September 7
TO READ: 1 Samuel 4:1-11
The Lost Ark
After the battle was over, the army of Israel retreated to their camp, and their leaders asked, aWhy did the LORD allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?a Then they said, aLetas bring the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies.a . . . So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again.
1 Samuel 4:3, 10
Hophnia and aPhinehasa are not the kind of names that mothers today give to their sons. They are not particularly attractive names, and the men who bore the names were singularly unattractive men. Along with their father, the elderly Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were priests of the Lord in the tabernacle at Shiloh. They abused their privileged position by seducing the women worshipers who came to the tabernaclea"actions that in the modern world would have sent them to prison for a long time. Their father, Eli, was perfectly aware of what was going on, and he rebuked them verbally, but he took no further action. He was weak, and they were disrespectful, so he did nothing.
When the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines in another of their petty wars, Israelas military leaders determined that it was the Lord who had allowed the defeat (1 Sam. 4:3). So they determined to turn that around by removing the ark of the covenant from its sanctuary and carrying it to the battle field. The two notorious young priests not only granted the ignominious request, but they personally a.s.sisted in transporting the ark to the place of battle. The a.s.sumption on the part of Israel was that, since the Lord had clearly been absent, so through the ark he was now present, and thus victory was a.s.sured.
The ark belonged in the Most Holy Place, not on the field of battle, and the priests had no business taking it there. But its arrival had a partial beneficial effect. The Philistines, whose knowledge of Israelite religion left much to be desired, still understood that the ark represented the presence of G.o.d, and historically, when G.o.d had been present among his people, they had been a formidable force. But strangely, instead of folding in terror before the presence of the Lord, the Philistines fought harder, and they won! Not only did they defeat Israel, but the ark was captured. The unthinkable had happened! G.o.d had been hijacked by pagans.
Right from the beginning, the Israelites had recognized that their problem was not primarily militarya"it was spiritual. But their solution was all wrong. They a.s.sumed that if they went through a religious act, if they featured a religious symbol, that would solve the problem. But the ark contained the Ten Commandments. These were not symbols to be carried but laws to be obeyed. Even the priests carrying the ark were contravening these laws with impunity. Israel was rotten to the core. That was why they had lost the battle.
Religious symbolism has never cured spiritual corruption. Only repentance and a work of G.o.das grace does that.
September 8
TO READ: 1 Samuel 4:12-22
Ichabod
She named the child Ichaboda"aWhere is the glory?aa"murmuring, aIsraelas glory is gone.a She named him this because the Ark of G.o.d had been captured and because her husband and her father-in-law were dead. Then she said, aThe glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of G.o.d has been captured.a 1 Samuel 4:21-22
During the great Welsh Revival of 1904, the churches and chapels of Wales were crowded with worshipers seeking to aget right with G.o.d.a Miners covered with coal dust went straight from the pits to the church, and the valleys rang with the grand sound of Welsh voices singing the great hymns of the faith. An American tourist who was familiar with the stories of the revival was anxious to visit the towns and villages where the Spirit of G.o.d had moved. He found an old Welshman who took him around to some of the chapels and churches, where he reminisced about the great preaching and singing of bygone days. But then, with a tremor in his voice, he said, aThe glory has departed. You could write across the front of the church in great big letters the word aKnickerbocker.aa Unfortunately, the word he meant was aIchabod.a But give the old Welshman some credit. Even if he was a little confused, at least he knew about a Bible story that most people have not encountered! It is the story of what happened when a messenger brought word back to Shiloh of Israelas defeat in battle and the capture of the ark. When poor old Elia"the fat, blind priesta"heard about the ark and the deaths of his sons (he seemed more concerned about the former than the latter), he fell off his bench, broke his neck, and died. Elias daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, the philandering priest, gave premature birth to a son and died in childbirth. But before she died, she murmured, aIsraelas glory is gone,a and she named her son aIchabod,a which means, aWhere is the glory?a (1 Sam. 4:21).
The Middle East is littered with the magnificent ruins of formerly great cities whose glory has long departed. Many of those cities are the ancient sites of first- and second-century churches that are now nowhere to be seen. Now there is no church, no Christian witness. The glory has gone. In the great cathedrals of Europe, where vast crowds once gathered for worship, now only tourists with cameras flood the ancient aisles, clambering unthinkingly and unknowingly over the graves of the great men and women of G.o.d who once stood tall and strong for the Lord in that place. The glory has gone.
The church is never more than one generation away from extinction. In some places, it happens through violent persecution. In others, through slow moral erosion. That erosion takes place in the hearts of individuals who, like Hophni and Phinehas, go through religious motions with hearts estranged from G.o.d. When that happens en ma.s.se, Ichabod! The glory departs.
September 9
TO READ: 1 Samuel 8:1-21
Trusting Your Own Instincts
aDo as they say,a the LORD replied, afor it is me they are rejecting, not you. They donat want me to be their king any longer.a 1 Samuel 8:7
We humans have a great capacity for trusting our own instincts more than G.o.das principles. We are adept at blocking out divine warnings and no amount of divine prompting will divert the intent soul from the path that most appeals. So G.o.d allows his children to go ahead and waits for them to face the reality that he has spoken and that they have ignored.
Toward the end of Samuelas life, G.o.das people felt that they were missing out on something good by doing things G.o.das way. They saw that their neighborsa religions were much laxer than the worship of Yahweh, and they appreciated the political power and military muscle exercised by neighboring kings. By comparison, the religious and political structures that G.o.d had ordained for Israel seemed too demanding on one hand and not secure enough on the other. It was easy to have G.o.ds who mirrored all the worst attributes of fallen humanity and encouraged similar behavior from their adherents, as was the case in many of the surrounding nations, but it was challenging and serious to worship the Lord, who called people to holiness of life. It was hard to trust G.o.d when the enemies arrived on the doorstep, while it seemed much easier to turn to a human king who could rally a fighting force and rout the enemy.
So Israel indicated that they would like a change. Samuel was upset, because he understood the implications: Israel was turning away from faith in the Lord and choosing self-reliance. aIt is me they are rejecting, not you,a the Lord explained (8:7). The Lord allowed Israel to have what they wanted, but warned them of the consequences. Samuel pa.s.sed on the message, but to no avail. They wanted what they wanteda"a human rather than a divine king. And they did not want to be told divine truths about human kings.
Human instincts are not always wrong, but G.o.das principles are always right. If our instincts flatly contradict divine instructions, our instincts must be jettisoned. The key is to submit our instincts to his scrutiny rather than to impose our intentions over his sovereignty. If we trust him to be our King, we may not always have something visible in which to put our confidence, but we will always have something much better: the eternal, almighty G.o.d, who always works for our good.
September 10
TO READ: Psalm 29
Worship the Lord
Give honor to the LORD, you angels; give honor to the LORD for his glory and strength. Give honor to the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
Psalm 29:1-2
Historically, worshipers have expressed their praise, raised their pet.i.tions, communicated their message, and encouraged their hearts with music. But musical styles change, so music as worship has taken many forms. Accordingly, music has often been the center of controversy. This was true even at the time of the Reformationa"the Reformers, who agreed on many things, did not arrive at a consensus on the subject of music. And at the present time, the struggle over what const.i.tutes worshipful music is so severe in some quarters that people talk about aworship warsa!
In the nineteenth century, William Booth burst on the church scene in England. In response to the economic and spiritual degradation rampant in his homeland, he founded the Salvation Army, a vibrant, aggressive, avant-garde ministry that reached out to the poorest of the poor with a holistic message of salvation through the Lord Jesus. Booth was no stranger to controversy. Among other things, he adapted secular tunes to evangelistic and worship uses. To those who questioned him, he proclaimed, aWhy should the devil have all the best tunes?a Surprisingly, there are reasons to believe that David expressed similar sentiments when he composed Psalm 29. Scholars tell us that this psalm bears evidence of having been used originally in the worship of Baal, a false G.o.d in ancient Palestine. Should that be true, King David and General William Booth had more in common than we had realized!