Devotional

Read the Word: Hebrews 11:1-12 Meditate on the Word: This passage is a nice concise recitation of many of the Old Testament heroes of the faith. These were people who loved God and trusted Him in a variety of circumstances. They trusted God in spite of heartbreak, difficulty, opposition, and even death. These faithful ones… Read More »

Read the Word: 1 Samuel 9:1-14 Meditate on the Word: After reading yesterday about Israel demanding a king for themselves, today we encounter their first human king. It seems almost comical how God arranged for the meeting of Saul and Samuel.  Saul was looking for his father’s donkeys and was ready to give up when… Read More »

Read the Word: 1 Samuel 8:1-9 Meditate on the Word: When we covered this passage on Sunday (verses 1-20), we noted that when we reject God, He will give us over to the control of those things (or people) that we reject Him for. Today, as we focus on the first few verses of this… Read More »

Read the Word: 1 Samuel 7:3-15 Meditate on the Word: Once again, as had happened many times over the previous 400 years, God has allowed one of Israel’s enemies to conquer her. This time, though, the Philistines had captured the ark of the covenant. God was the One who showed the Philistines that the symbol… Read More »

Read the Word: 1 Samuel 5:1-5 Meditate on the Word: In ancient times, there was a widespread belief that if a nation won a battle, then that proved the superiority of their god over the god of the defeated enemy. This would have been the opinion of the Philistines after beating the Israelites handily in… Read More »

Read the Word: 1 Samuel 4:1-22 Meditate on the Word: I find it interesting in this passage that what people mourn is not the great loss of life, but the loss of the ark of the covenant. This was the symbol of God’s presence among His people. Even Phineas’ widow, who died right after giving… Read More »

Read the Word: 1 Samuel 2:22-36 Meditate on the Word: It is very easy in this narrative to see Hophni and Phineas as purely bad characters who have no redeeming qualities. That is on purpose. Their evil was being contrasted by Samuel’s good character. We cannot deny that what these two were doing was evil.… Read More »

Read the Word: 1 Samuel 2:18-21 Meditate on the Word: We know from earlier in this chapter that Samuel was the son that God gave to Hannah in response to her earnest prayer. We also know that when the child was weaned, as she had promised, she gave him into the service of the Lord.… Read More »

Read the Word: 1 Samuel 2:11-17 Meditate on the Word: You may remember that Hannah prayed to the Lord for a son and promised that he would be dedicated to serve the Lord. God answered Hannah’s prayer by allowing her to give birth to Samuel. As a boy, Samuel was dedicated to the Lord’s service,… Read More »

Read the Word: 1 Samuel 1:1-18 Meditate on the Word: Hannah’s life was filled with grief. She had a husband, whom she was forced to share with another woman. Hannah was unable to have a child, while they seemed to come easily to the other wife. And, to top it off, the other wife was… Read More »