The story of Samuel's mother Hannah, a desperate woman begging God for a child, has always been very special to me. Then I married a fabulous guy, whose first name is actually Samuel. Then the story became more personal to me because I too desperately begged God for the gift of a godly husband, and He gave me Samuel Trent Young. Okay, that's getting too sappy, isn't it? Anyway, take the time to read of young Samuel's beginning in Samuel 1-3 if you have the time. I'll move on for the sake of our group.
In Samuel 7, the prophet questions his people to find out if they are committed to serving the LORD. In verse 4, they seem to be since they put away their idols and served the LORD only. However, they are wishy-washy when pressure from the Philistines comes along. They ask Samuel to cry out to God for them because they are scared. Samuel does pray for them, but the people miss out on a blessing by not speaking to God personally. God does choose to answer their prayer for help, and He thunders against their enemies. "The LORD thundered with loud thunder" has a new meaning for me this week. Our family enjoyed a vacation at Niagara Falls, which means Thundering Waters. As I stood there in awe of the tremendous power of the falls, I praised God for His thundering power in our lives.
The second verse of the hymn "Come Thou Fount" begins with "Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I'm come." http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh400.sht So, now I understand the meaning of those words. They come from 1 Samuel 7:12.
I was very excited to read in verse 17 that Samuel was able to visit Ramah, which is where his parents lived. You see, Hannah promised that if God would grant her a son, she would dedicate him to the LORD. So, when Samuel was about three years old, she took him to live with Eli, the priest at Shiloh. I am very thankful he was able to stay connected to his family as he grew older.
1 Samuel 8:1-3 Samuel seemed to be a man of God who practiced what he preached. Why didn't his sons get it? Samuel had witnessed Eli's failure at fathering. He had even been the one to deliver God's message to Eli that the priesthood would be taken from his family because of his sons. Why didn't he make sure his own sons received proper spiritual training? Can you believe verse 5? The elders of Israel even brought it to Samuel's attention that his sons were out of control. Why didn't Samuel take action? I know we can't control the decisions our children will make. And there are parents who did everything right, yet their children still choose to rebel. Why didn't Samuel seek someone else to appoint as priest? I'm going to have to have a sit-down chat with him to find out his story when I see him in heaven.
Later in Chapter 8, God assures Samuel that he should not take Israel's request for a king too personally. They were rejecting God's kingship in their lives. This was a pattern of behavior for their nation. Even after Samuel gives Israel a list of all the horrible things their king would do to them, they refused to listen to him. They threw a fit, and told God to give them what they wanted. Have you ever begged God for something, and then wished later that you could take it back? I'm almost certain you have asked God for things and didn't get it, then you pouted, and it wasn't until years later that you could look back and sing the lyrics of the Garth Brooks song "Unanswered Prayers." http://www.lyricsfreak.com/g/garth+brooks/unanswered+prayers_20058116.html
Well, God does grant Israel's petition for a king, and they are extremely disappointed in Saul's lack of leadership skills. We'll discuss his story in greater detail next time in 1 Samuel 9-12.
As I was reading about the elders of Israel wanting a king like all of the other nations, I began to wonder if things had been left with the two sons as the judges, how would have God dealt with them? Instead of having faith the elders rejected the Lord and then they had to deal with consequences of Saul's kingship. I guess we really should worry about ourselves first and foremost. How is my walk with the Lord? Is He the King of Kings or do I long for things others have?
ReplyDeleteYes, why do we want to be like everybody else? Why do we long to have what everybody else has? Is it because we are not satisfied with the blessings God has granted us? Is it because we are not satisfied with our own personal relationship with a loving God?
ReplyDeleteI think, Dana, that it goes back to what we are taught as children and every where we look the message is being sent out- more you need more to be somebody- and whatever sesan we are in with God if we are not getting we we think we should be we tend to think that God must not love me enough.....we put top much into worldly possessions
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right, Hilary. Our culture definitely tells us that we show our love by giving big gifts. Then we translate that to our faith and expect big gifts from God if He really loves us. I don't find that theology in my Bible! Maybe God promised material blessings to the Jews under the old covenant, but under the new covenant of Christ, we receive spiritual blessings of much greater value. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3)
ReplyDeleteI am not into material things very strongly. I seem to be just as happy without a bunch of expensive things. Don't get me wrong, things are nice, but my hand me downs work just as well. I always wonder about people who set so much store in things, whether they are really happy or not. I have a dear friend who has a caviar taste on a bologna budget, and she never seems to be happy with what she has, always striving for better things. I pray that I don't ever become that way.
ReplyDeleteDo you suppose God placed a desire within us for wanting more because of what will lie ahead for us in heaven? He doesn't want us to focus on the here on earth, but to long for what we will be granted in heaven. I thought that same thing about "why do we want to be like everybody else?" I think it's because that is what we can see and touch, that we become so focused on wanting those things, that it takes out focus off of what really matters- what we will be given in heaven. I'm so thankful that our Father is so forgiving. He has a lot to forgive me for!!!! What discourages me is that I know all this and yet I still keep falling into it over and over again, just like the Israelites. We're really more like them than we want to admit to sometimes.
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