Faithful or Guilty

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

 FAITHFUL  OR GUILTY

1 Samuel 2:8-10

"For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; upon them he has set the world. 9 He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness.

"It is not by strength that one prevails; 10 those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.

"He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed."

NIV

The last three stanzas of Hannah's song or prayer have prophetic references to Jesus. Although these first words were part of a verse we last dealt with, we included them here because they provide a springboard to the absolute creative power of the LORD, and we know that all things were created by Jesus, and without Him, nothing would have been created. In fact, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and all things both in heaven and on earth were made by him and for him. Hannah understood because of the power of the Spirit inspiring these words. The LORD is the all-powerful, all-sovereign, and all-knowing who gave us life to be in fellowship with him. This was the main reason God made Adam and breathed life into him. God wanted a man to be his companion, so to speak. It is not that God needed anything, for he is God and has always been the triune God, three person who could be one with each other, yet He decided to create a world just to put a man who they created in their own image to have a relationship with, koinonia, to be one with Him. After all those years have passed and our time on the earth has come, and because we have been born again or from above, and are in Christ, the Lord will guard our feet, or footstep, or the path he has laid out before us. Because the wicked will be silenced in darkness, and our feet are guarded, we have another comparison between the righteous and the wicked. What we should consider is the reason they are wicked and we are the saints. The two Hebrew words mean the guilty and the faithful. The guilty are those who sin against God, while the faithful are those who have accepted his grace, Jesus, and live under his guardianship. Of course, this also means we walk with Him and talk with him along life’s narrow way,  as Adam first did in the garden. What does walking with Jesus look like? It is certainly different than having Jesus walk with us. Our focus is walking with him, going where he leads us, not expecting him to bless the path we lead, although He will guard, or keep, or watch over our steps, but it is because we are the faithful and we have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. It comes down to who is faithful and who is guilty.

 

 

Going Up or Down

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

GOING UP OR DOWN

1 Samuel 2:6-8

6 "The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. 7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. 8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor.

NIV

In this stanza of Hannah’s song, we see another set of comparisons. The first is the matter of life and death, encompassing two distinct areas: one for the dead and one for the living. Interestingly, in Hebrew, the meaning is, the Lord kills, to die, to have one executed, and sends down to Sheol. This is the place of the underworld, Hades, the place of no return. This place is not, as some have invented, a temporary holding place where souls can be brought back from, or sent beyond. However, the lesson is that God is the giver of life and has the only authority to take life. In other words, we live and die by the authority of God. This could be seen in two ways. First, all people are given life by the will of God, as he created Adam and Eve to fill the earth. We believe every person on the face of the planet that has ever lived, is living, and will live, is knit together in their mother’s womb, by the will of God. All mankind is his creation; however, he also gave us the ability to choose to listen to him or ignore him, which we call free will. Therefore, we have the choice between being brought down to the grave, Sheol, or being raptured, being raised up. Because we have accepted his provision for eternal life, Jesus, we not only have been given life, but have been made alive, which is without the opposite, death. Second, he determines who is poor and who is rich. It is possible that those who do not have great wealth may not be able to handle wealth without becoming so prideful that a fall is imminent, while others use their wealth for the benefit of others. It all boils down to God having the ultimate authority over our lives. He is the one who humbles us, and he is the one who exalts us; we cannot do that. Although we are told to humble ourselves before him. However, our accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is an act of humility as we recognize our sinful state and our need to be redeemed. Without accepting Jesus, we are doomed to Sheol, the place of no return. As we are humbled by knowing our sinful state, accepting Jesus, God exalts us, raises us up, and gives us eternal life. He raised up our needy state, our covering ourselves in ashes, which has a deep spiritual significance. It often represents themes of repentance, mourning, humility, and mortality. We can see Old Testament men putting on sackcloth and ashes, humbling themselves before the LORD. The point again is the proud will be brought down while the humble will be raised up to sit with princes, and inherit honor before our LORD. Let us always know our pitiful condition, and live humbly accepting his grace. God alone has the authority over up or down, but he always allows us to choose which. Because we are in Jesus, we are going up, rather than down. 

The Comparison

 DEVOTION

1 SAMUEL

THE COMPARISON

1 Sam 2:4-5

4 "The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. 5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry hunger no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away.

NIV

One more Stanza of the song of Hannah, which has many prophetic statements. This is thought by some to be against various armies, such as the Philistines, Nebuchadnezzar, the Greeks, and enemies of the Messiah. Whether that is true or not, we cannot find a particular fulfillment, although there are some general fulfillments of the fall of some of those, and others, the scholar of old has thought. Still, when we consider these words, we see some comparisons. The strong are broken, while the weak are given strength. Those who labor diligently for the substances of life find themselves slaves to their needs, while those who hunger for God are hungry no more, for he supplies every need. Then the comparison between herself and Peninnah. The strong may represent those who are in the world, or even those in the assembly of the righteous who look to their own strength, and are proud of their success and accomplishments. They will find the Lord is not pleased with their pridefulness, and a fall is their future, a broken bow. However, the Lord lifts up those who stumble or the humble who have no bows, no pride, no self-righteousness, or strength. Those who seek only the righteousness of God, Jesus, will find strength in Him to do all that He calls them to do, as the Spirit will empower them in many ways. This is exactly what happened between Peninnah and Hannah when Peninnah had all those sons and Hannah was barren, going before the LORD with a broken and humble heart. She was lifted up and bore a man of God, a prophet, who performed many miracles by the power of God. What we learn from this stanza is to remain humble before the Lord, singing from within, “It is the cry of my heart to follow you, Lord, and to be close to you". We learn here to always seek His righteousness first, knowing he is all we need. Alone, we are weak, but Jesus has sent us the Holy Spirit to empower us just as the LORD did for Samuel. Let us constantly rely on the Lord and the Spirit, and we will see what the Lord has done. 

Father knows best

 DEVOTION

1 SAMUEL

FATHER KNOWS BEST

1 Sam 2:3

3 "Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed.

NIV

·         We are still taking one stanza of Hannah's song at a time, for each phrase is chock-full of truths, or as we have noted before, little golden nuggets worth consideration of something of value. Of course, the whole scripture, which this is part of, is of great value, for it is God-breathed words spoken and recorded by people of faith as they were inspired by God. Here, Hannah sings about the proud and how their mouths are full of arrogant speech. She may have been thinking of the arrogance of Peninnah, who constantly provoked Hannah about her barrenness while she bore children for their husband. We are aware of the arrogant talk of the people of the world, who trust in their own works, think they do not need God, or even refuse to acknowledge God.  But the deeper truth here is about us believers being arrogant, thinking we are more important than we ought to be. It is also about how we boast about our accomplishments in the church. We have witnessed such arrogance, such pride regarding the size of their church, or all the ministries of the church. We can see this prideful speech even in those who are supposed to be ministers for the Lord. It would seem there is a need to impress other people as to how much we know, or do. Yet, when it comes to our Lord God, he already knows everything about each of us, and he is the one who measures out our labor. It can be seen that he weighs our good deeds, that is, he measures how much we do, and the value of what we do. We might think some of our good deeds are really good to do, and of course, as seen by others, but God is the one who determines, weighs out our deeds, and what he wants us to do. It would seem that deeds are weighted by God is synonymous with judging our deeds, but the Hebrew word translated as weighted has the first meaning of regulated, balanced, as thought of leveling out. This gives us the idea that God, who knows everything, measures out equal deeds for all of us, so that we are all receiving the same measure of deeds for the advancement of His kingdom. This coincides perfectly with the idea of us all being a part of the body, and the mouth should not be proud because it needs the hands to feed it, or any part thinking it is more important than any other. We are all part of the body of Christ, each with the same measured out deeds, interdependent on each other. Jesus said that he came not to be served but to serve, and that is how our lives should reflect him. It is not just about when we are in church, however, that is a good place to see if we are the servant or if we want to be served. Do we want to be lifted up, or lift up others? Do we want to be built up, or do we want to build up others? Do we want to have value, or see others as having value? Solomon said it best, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” There are many times the Lord has spoken about the humble. Through James, he tells us, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. Let us seek the Lord and follow the path he has laid out before us, doing that which he has weighed out for us, serving as he directs.  For He knows that which we do not, because Father knows best. 

The Rock

 DEVOTION

1 SAMUEL

THE ROCK

1 Sam 2:2

"There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

How can there ever be anyone as Holy as the LORD? How can there ever be anyone besides him? He is the Rock of our Salvation. Jesus has been referred to as the spiritual Rock. We sing that song about our hope is built on nothing less, with the refrain, “ On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand”. However, we wonder if we believe that is only for our salvation, or if it also includes how we live our daily lives. We have known some believers who seem to build their lives on their own talents, skills, education, and career paths, and boast in their accomplishments. Is that building our hope on nothing less, or on something less than Jesus? We know this may appear judgmental, but it is a concern when we hear Christians boasting about their successes, or how much they do for the kingdom of God, almost building a resume of “Good deeds”. When Hannah sings the words, “There is no one holy like the LORD”, we have to come to terms with the fact that no matter how much we try, even striving to obey, “Be holy as I am holy”, we will never accomplish that this side of heaven. Understanding the pure holiness of God should humble us beyond measure. In some sense, we are not even worthy to pray, but we live under the grace of God because of the Rock of Ages, Jesus, who is the cornerstone of our lives. If we try to build our lives on our own, planning our own careers or paths, then we are bound to build a non-straight building or life. It will crumble because it is not built starting from the cornerstone, Jesus. Of course, those who reject Jesus will build a life that is unlevel and crooked, that ultimately will crumble. However, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we begin to build a new life, for we are new creatures in Christ. This new life is build on the Solid Rock, the one whom there is no one else that comes close to being like him. We believe this would mean every aspect of our lives, where we live, work, relax, and worship, is all built on the Rock. Let us always go to our holy God before making any decision in life.

 

Rejoicing and Boasting

 DEVOTION

1 SAMUEL

REJOICING AND BOASTING

1 Sam 2:1

2:1 Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.

NIV

Although this is a prayer of Hannah, it is also a song, as it is divided into eight stanzas and is prophetic. As we work through it, we will see that Hannah uses a word in Hebrew that means 'Messiah'.  She also makes comparisons between the righteous and the wicked, the humble and the proud, the poor and the rich. This first stanza is all about her heart rejoicing in the LORD. Strangely, she rejoices that her horn is lifted up, but looking into this word, it is used mainly as the horn of an altar, but can also be applied as strength, which would make sense. She was downcast, weakened by the constant provocation of Peninnah, and now, because the LORD opened her womb and she bore a son, she is renewed in her strength. Her character, or personality, has been restored, and she is a mother. We cannot be sure if it is appropriate for her to boast over her enemies, because she delights in the LORD’s deliverance. However, this is one of those prophetic phrases that speaks of our mouths boasting over Satan, the enemy of our souls, because the Lord delivered us from death. However, the Hebrew word translated as boasting carries, making my mouth large, concept, which could mean that she testifies to the greatness of the LORD over the weakness of the enemy because of his salvation. Paul did not boast about his fleshly, or human, accomplishments, but his boasting, his making his mouth large, his testimony was all about the power of God. In fact, Paul, if he boasted about himself, it was his weakness. This is where we come into this story. We should be careful not to boast about any of our human accomplishments or deeds, as that would be lifting ourselves up. Hannah was boasting in the power of the LORD, giving her a son, whom she dedicated to the LORD’s service. She rejoiced, as we know we should rejoice, and I’ll say it again, rejoice always, rejoice for we have experienced the Lord’s salvation. Can we get bogged down in life’s worries, or just the business of life itself? It is possible that we can get so entangled with our daily wants, desires, goals, or envies, jealousies, hurts, physical, or emotional, along with many other personal or self-centered feelings, that we forget how great our salvation is. It does not matter how much we have or do in this world, even in our Christian walk, for all of it is temporary, whereas our salvation is eternal. Let’s rejoice in the Lord, delighting in our deliverance, in the work of the Lord, for he and he alone is worthy of our rejoicing and boasting.

Worship and Watch

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

WORSHIP AND WATCH

1 Samuel 1:19-28

19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him." 21 When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, 22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always." 23 "Do what seems best to you," Elkanah her husband told her. "Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word." So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. 25 When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. 27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.

NIV

Once again, we are faced with several truths, or little nuggets of gold, within this continued story of Hannah. First, we noticed they were up early in the morning and worshiped the Lord before returning home to Ramah. There is always a good time to worship the Lord; in fact, it has been said our whole lives should be a worship of God. However, after the day begins and we get engaged in our daily activities, we should spend the first moments of our day in full, uninterrupted worship of our Lord. Our days can become so full of many distractions that we might just think we are living as Christians, even reading a portion of scripture each day, but never get around to worshiping the Lord. This is why the early morning is a wonderful time to worship the Lord, before anything else fills our day. The Hebrew word used here for worship means to prostrate, bow down, especially reflective before God. Here again, this could mean taking up a physical position, bowing down, either face down on the floor, or kneeling; however, most importantly, is bowing our heart. No matter our physical limitations that could restrict us from lying face down, or even kneeling, we can bow low our hearts, submitting ourselves, sacrificing ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is our  spiritual worship. Second, we look at the fact that God remembered Hannah. It is not that God would ever forget her, or us, for that matter, but it is a phrase that demonstrates how pleased the Lord was with her spiritual act of worship, her sincere, genuine pouring her soul out before him. His remembering Hannah showed up miraculously, as he had closed her womb, he now opened it. A woman who was not able to conceive did so because of the LORD. We wonder if we put too much faith in the medical profession, even thinking they are the hand of God at work fixing some problem with our bodies, rather than spending time pouring out our souls before the Lord, seeking our needs directly from his hand. Of course, Hannah’s husband lay with her as a normal method used to conceive another life. But it was her womb going from closed to open that happened only through the direct intervention of the LORD. Let us worship first, foremost, and see what God can do. We might sum it up with worship and watch.