When we want to be like the world, we will not exhibit godly qualities.   ~~~   1 Samuel 9 begins by listing off all the characteristics that the world may think would make a great leader. Saul is wealthy, Saul is tall, and Saul is incredibly handsome. But can he be a great leader? Are these qualities of a great leader? As the story continues, Saul’s father has some donkeys that get out of the barn and get lost. So Kish sends out Saul to find the animals. But this story actually speaks to Saul’s inability to lead… When they go looking for the donkeys, and Saul wants to give up the search and return home, it is the servant who brings up the possibility of seeking out the prophet. And the question is, “Why doesn’t Saul do this? Why isn’t Saul’s solution to seek God, and why doesn’t Saul know he is in Samuel’s land?” Samuel had been traveling throughout all of Israel. Samuel’s word and prayer is what sustained and delivered Israel into victory in chapter 7. Why is Saul not aware of any of this? He is not even aware that it is Samuel that he runs into in the road. All of this is the author’s way of pointing to the fact that Saul is spiritually bankrupt, or at the least, spiritually shallow and immature, not the type of leader Israel needs, but it is actually what they want if they want a king like the nations.  

Sometimes God gives us what we ask for to show us it is NOT what we need.   ~~~   From the introduction in 1 Samuel 9, it seems to us like Saul is a good choice to be king over Israel. Wealthy, strong, handsome. What is not to like? But embedded within each of the next several scenes are very undesirable characteristics that the first audience would have picked up on, and that we need to pick up on, so that we might see and understand that sometimes God gives us what we ask for to show us it is NOT what we need. One of the first noticeable features that we learn about Saul is that he is the most handsome man in Israel and incredibly tall. What a sight to behold! But the first audience would have picked up on something. They would have known their bible and they would remember that Saul is the first Israelite noted as being especially tall. All the other people recognized for their physical stature and size were Israel’s enemies, men and people who did not follow after God. Numbers 13:33—“we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers (in comparison to them)” Deut. 1:28 “the brothers have made our heart melt saying, “The people are greater and taller than we.” Deut. 2:10 “(the Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim.) Deut. 9:2 “…a people great and tall, the sons of Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’” 1 Samuel 17:4—Goliath—nearly 9’ What are to learn from this? Is this just a coincidental circumstance? Are all tall people evil? No. Remember, the people wanted a king like the other nations, and what they saw was that might and strength were wrapped up in physical appearance and height. If you were tall it was understood that you were to be mighty and strong. Just like in some third world countries, an overweight person is thought to be wealthy because they have means to eat abundantly. Listen, there is nothing wrong with Saul being tall. The fault comes in that the people believed that made him a great leader. They are getting what they desired, but what they desired is not what they needed, as we will soon see.

Prayer is an important part of personal time with God.

Sometimes God gives what we want to show us it is not what we need.   ~~~ I recently read the story of a married couple who were enjoying a romantic meal, celebrating their 40th anniversary. They were each twenty years old when they got married, so they were now 60 years old. They were reminiscing over the glorious years of marriage, and once their meal came and was set in front of them, they raised their glasses and the husband said, “Here’s to 40 more.” Once the glasses met and chimed, a fairy appeared and said to them, “Since you two have maintained such an exemplary marriage, I am here to grant you each one request.” A big smile came across the wife’s face and she started clapping her hands, and she said, “I know exactly what I want. I want to travel to Europe with my husband.” The fairy waved her wand and then poof, she had two first class tickets in her hand. Looking over at the husband, the fairy said, “And what is your request?” Knowing that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and not wanting it to go to waste, the husband looked around the restaurant, noticing all the young women, mustered up the courage, closed his eyes and said, “I want a wife 30 years younger than me!” The fairy waved her wand, and poof, he turned into a 90 year old man. Have you ever asked for something and then been less than satisfied, or even really disappointed, even though what you received was exactly what you asked for? Sometime you get exactly what you ask for. Getting what you ask for and not being happy with it, or growing tired of it quickly, is actually pretty common among us. There is always the bigger and the better just around the corner it seems But when it comes to our spiritual lives, we can oftentimes think that if we pray for it, and ask God for it, and if it comes to fruition, then we must have been in alignment with God’s will. Why in the world would he send something our way that was not in alignment with His will? Well, actually, we will discover that God does that very thing and he does it for a reason. Sometimes God gives what we want to show us it is not what we need.  

If the desire to be like the world goes unchecked, you will have rejected God’s kingship over you.   ~~~ A desire to be like the world hardens your heart to God’s word. 1 Samuel 8:19 “but the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.” Fathers, what is your desire? Some of you are here are you not? You want what the world offers. And when you chase that bait, you abandon the mission of God, you blind your eyes to the misery and costs that comes with being like the world, and you harden your heart towards God. If the desire to be like the world goes unchecked, you will have rejected God’s kingship over you. You see, our human nature refuses God’s words, minimizes it. Our human nature steers us away from God, calling on us to reject his authority, and leads us to desire another authority, namely ourselves. And we are in great need of a God, a redeemer, who can overcome the sinful and natural tendencies of our human hearts. We need a hero who can woo us and win us, who can give us a new heart, with new desires. And this is exactly what God offers to us in Christ. When a person puts their hope and confidence and trust and reliance in Jesus, His life, his death and resurrection, then the Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Why is it necessary that we be in Christ? Because Jesus completely fought off the desire to be like the world. When Jesus began his ministry on earth, Satan came to him, and tempted and tried to lure him to bow down to him by offering him all the kingdoms of the world. He tempted Jesus to put on his power in a worldly way. He tempted Jesus to slide down that slippery slope of minimizing God’s word. And Jesus refused. He refused in the barren land of the wilderness. He even refused temptation while hanging on the limbs of a rugged cross when the religious leaders mocked him by saying, “You saved others, why can’t you save yourself. You say you are the king of Israel, why don’t you come down from the cross, and then we will believe you. You say you trust in God. Why doesn’t God deliver you if he loves you so much.” Every step of Jesus’ life, people were trying to get him to abandon the mission God the Father had given him. But Jesus would not abandon the mission, because He would not abandon the Father’s words. Where the Israelites and ourselves refused to obey God’s word, Jesus refused to disobey God’s word. And now, instead of like in 1 Samuel, where God says to Samuel, “Obey their voice” so that they might learn discipline, God says to us about Jesus, “This is my beloved Son. Obey Him,” so that we might have joy!

A desire to be like the world around you blinds you to the reality that awaits you in that world.   ~~~ When we become like the world, we lose our freedom; we become Blinded to the fact that we will lose GOd’s generosity. Notice the very stern warning that God gives them in 8:9-18 “you shall solemnly warn them…” “he will take…” Six times God tells them that a king like the other nations will take from them. If you want a king like the other nations, to fight your battles, then he will want a standing army. So he will take your sons to be in his army. But not only that, a king like the other nations will want to live in extravagance and luxury. So he will take your sons to be plow fields and reap harvests, to make weapons, and take care of the horses for the chariots. And he will want to eat well, so he will take your daughters to fix and prepare. And then, who will you have to work in your fields, to prepare your meals, to prepare your wine, to reap your harvests. You see, a king was going to make it a harder life on all the people all the way around. You won’t have your sons and daughters to help you. You won’t have any abundance because it will go to take care of the king. He will take, take, take. And they had forgotten that God was the one who gave, gave, gave. And God wasn’t going to let up on what HE required from them. Why? Because HE was the REAL KING. But perhaps the greatest tragedy comes in that last sentence. You will cry out to God because of the misery you have brought on yourself, but the LORD will not answer you in that day. A desire, a lust to be like the world around you blinds you to the reality that awaits you in that world.

It is a battle to remain distinct as God’s people, and not become a cheap duplicate.   ~~~   Church, a desire to be like the world makes you forfeit the very feature that makes you great. Being like the world means you lose your distinctiveness/mission. The Israelites cried out that they want “To be like all the nations” which is stated at the beginning of this passage (vs.5) and at the end of the passage (vs. 20). And the great reality that is lost on the people of Israel is that God never intended His people to be “like” the other nations. In fact, their distinctiveness was to be a hallmark feature of who they were. We could turn to countless passages that make this clear, but I want you to understand this. One of the reasons God has not called or led his people to be like other nations was in order to set His people off from them, to make them distinct, to stand out, so that the other nations would see the grace and blessing of God upon them. Their distinctiveness was in no way meant to keep them from the good things that life has to offer, but the very opposite, to help them enjoy all that life has to offer. And neither was their distinctiveness meant to be God’s way of turning his back on the other nations, but as the means of Him reaching out to them. There was a fundamental reason that is cited time and again throughout the OT about why Israel was NOT to be like the other nations, and it had to do with their mission. And the same goes for us. We have a mission. We have a purpose for our existence. We exist to bring the joy of knowing Christ to the nations, starting with Hope, Arkansas. And a big part of how we fulfill that mission is in being trustingly obedient to our KING. How are we to show that there is abundant life in Christ and fullness of joy if we continually say to Him in front of the world, “I know a better way. I have a better idea. I have a different purpose.” Each time you say that and live that out, the spotlight turns from being on Christ to being on yourself. So it is a battle to remain distinct as God’s people, and not become a cheap duplicate. It is a battle to be trustingly obedient. We must fight this battle, because if we do not, then by losing our distinctiveness, we lose our mission.

Bible reading plans are useful to help guide us on our daily walk with God.

A desire to be like the world is a constant battle we must fight.   ~~~ A desire to be like the world is a constant battle we must fight. 1 Samuel 8:7-8 “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.” God says that this request that the Israelites have made is simply the latest actions in a long line of forsaking the LORD, and serving other gods. Samuel, what they are doing to you, in rejecting your leadership at this point, is that they are really rejecting me, and they have been doing it for centuries. They have this constant craving to be like the world, and to distrust my word. This is definitely a battle we all face, isn’t it. The future looks rocky, or the ground beneath our feet begins to quake a little bit, and so we look around to see what other people are reaching for and we reach for the same thing. It’s called pragmatism. We look to see what seems to be working for other people, and then we want the same thing. The church seems to be ineffective, or even wayward, so what are the latest techniques of the world that will get her back on track? I know. How about churches based on common interests like horses, or nascar, or style of worship. The world suggests using marketing ploys and gimmicks and turning ministry into fun-filled theaters, and to avoid talking about sin and the destruction it causes; stop holding people accountable to God’s word and let them just be their own unique self. My marriage is unstable, what does the world suggest? It suggests stepping out bc the grass is greener, at least for a little while; or giving up; consult your girlfriends without ever consulting your bible There is a lack of manly leadership and there doesn’t seem to be much hope for it in the future, what does the world offer as suggestions? It suggest you take a back seat and let women assume the role of leadership and protection. It suggests looseness and laziness concerning marriage; it suggests putting off responsibility for as long as possible; it suggests to fill your life with toys and entertainment and amusements with no concern for righteousness, dignity, humility, or masculinity. The desire to distrust the word of God and be like the world is one of the oldest desires. The desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions is not from the Father but from the world…and we must go to battle against it.

We can look back over our history and see the work of God in and around our lives. And yet, when things seem to be getting sour, we can glance at what we see in the world and say, “I want some of what they have,” without remembering that that life is nothing but shame, regret, and defeat.   ~~~   1 Samuel 8:1 begins by telling us that Samuel is old. To trace a timeline, remember that in chapter 3, Samuel was described in verse 1 as a young man. We know that he was handed over to the High Priest’s care very early in his life, that he grew up in the temple, and that as a young man begin speaking for the LORD. We also know that approximately 20 years have passed from chapter 4 through chapter 7 (see 7:2). So we might say that by the time chapter 7 comes along, Samuel is middle aged. And we learn at the end of chapter 7 that Samuel is going around Israel to different cities bringing God’s word to bear in those different locations. Now, as chapter 8 opens up, Samuel is old. All of this to say that some time has passed between the events of chapter 7 and what we will see take place in chapter 8. We are also told that Samuel’s sons have grown up enough to be judges in certain parts of Israel. So God’s plan was that He, God, would be their king, and that there would be qualified and skilled men who would bring God’s word to bear on local situations. In Samuel’s prime, remember, he was traveling throughout all of Israel, but now he is appointing men, his sons, to judge in local places. I think it is an obvious fact that there was a lack of qualified and skilled men from the previous generations, since those were the generations where every man was doing what was right in their own eyes, and also there was no mechanism in place to produce godly men, especially since the priests were corrupt themselves. But we quickly learn of a flaw in the character of Samuel’s sons. They were not righteous like Samuel. They took bribes. In other words, if you had a dispute with someone else, and brought it to either Joel or Abijah, you couldn’t count on God’s word bearing on the situation, but rather your wallet. You could buy a favorable ruling, thereby perverting justice. This is a problem, a big problem. And the elders recognized it as such. They have already lived through the perversion and corruption of Hophni and Phinehas. Now we have Samuel’s own sons blazing a similar path. But the people are not going to tolerate it this time around. They see the problem and they want to head it off before it becomes too great. So they caravan together to Ramah in order to speak to Samuel about this. Now notice their reasoning for the request they are about to make: You, Samuel are old Your sons do not walk in your ways (we can’t trust them) So what is their primary concern? Their primary concern is the future. What does the future leadership look like? Well, to them it looks like corruption and perversion. And their assessment is not wrong. That is exactly what Samuel’s sons were bringing to the table as leadership skills. They sniffed it out and didn’t want to live under that type of tyranny again. But then they say, “Appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’” What exactly were the people hoping to find in a king? Well, I think several things are clear from the text. First, they were looking for leadership. They wanted a king to “judge” them, or make decisions for them and lead them. That is the general idea behind the word “judge.” Samuel had been “judging” them according to God’s word, but they didn’t see that lasting too much longer, so they wanted a replacement. Not only that, they wanted protection and progress. Notice what it says in verse 19-20—“There shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” So yes, their distrust of the leadership rising through the ranks was spot on. We can’t fault them for that. But the actual request should have been to go to the LORD and seek His wisdom on what to do, instead of looking over the wall to see what the world was doing. The very first audience, as they are reading this, was probably thinking, “But what about what God has done on your behalf the last 7 chapters? God raised up Samuel for you out of nowhere and from obscurity in order to carry His word to you; God defeated the mighty Philistines by Himself; He taught the self-centered Israelites about His holiness; He thundered and routed the Philistines for you a second time. All of chapters 1-7 set us up to see the foolishness of the request that is now being made—the request of a king like the other nations have seems senseless since they now have repossessed their land and the surrounding nations were afraid of them. We can often find ourselves doing the same thing. We can look back over our history and see the work of God in and around our lives. And yet, when things seem to be getting sour, we can glance at what we see in the world and say, “I want some of what they have,” without remembering that that life is nothing but shame, regret, and defeat.

When the future looks unstable, heed the Lord’s word, not the world’s ways.   ~~~   Have you ever seen or played for yourself, that leadership game where one person is blindfolded and placed on side of the room, and their partner is placed on the other side, and in between them is a minefield of obstacles? And the goal is for the blindfolded person to listen to the voice of their partner in order to navigate through the minefield. If you want to add to the fun, encourage other people in the room to shout out commands and directions in order to distract the blindfolded person. That is just a simple game to play in order to highlight the need to give clear, succinct directions, and also how to zero in on one voice. In 1 Samuel 8, we are not dealing with a fun, simple game, but a real life situation that we all find ourselves in, probably more times than we would like to admit. The people of Israel are at a crossroads, and they begin to look around them to the other nations, and they start paying attention to their voices. And here is what we need to learn: When the future looks unstable, heed the Lord’s word, not the world’s ways. Over the next few weeks, we are going to see what happens when this truth is not heeded.  

The Bible tells us that He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God.   ~~~   The Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) in the Sanctuary of Mercy church in Borja, Spain, is a fresco painted circa 1930 by the Spanish painter Elías García Martínez depicting Jesus crowned with thorns. Both the subject and style are typical of traditional Catholic art.[1] This piece of art work fresco of Christ had been of high sentimental value to many who lived in the city of Zaragoza. By 2012, however, the work was in an awful state of disrepair, so 82 year old Cecilia Gimenez took it upon herself to restore the image. The result became, in the words of Christian Fraser, “a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic.” The above painting is an apt illustration of what took place in the life of Israel as we have been reading the opening chapters of 1 Samuel. They had put their lives into the hands of unskilled amateurs, depending upon them to restore them, and it turned out deadly. Who has been doing the work of restoration in your life? Has it been you? You been trying to be better, do better? You can’t. You have crooked and dried up paint brushes. You are going to turn it into more of a mess. That is why we need the right restorer, the great restorer, who is Jesus. The Bible tells us that He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus restores us completely.

We must be careful about using outside resources in our Bible study.

The right restorer, makes all the difference in the world, and the greatest restorer of human lives is Jesus Christ.   ~~~ Through reading Francis Schaeffer’s How Should We Then Live, I have grown increasingly interested in paintings and different works of art and how artwork has influenced culture and every day living. One area of the art world that is little known and under appreciated is the act of restoration. A piece of artwork may have layers of varnish coating it, in order to preserve the painting, but overtime, the varnish makes the painting appear dim or darkened. So a restorer has to work like a careful surgeon, choosing just the perfect solvent and working with a steady hand in order to remove dirt and varnish, and not do additional damage to the piece of art. A few years ago, an angry man rushed through the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam until he reached Rembrandt’s famous painting “Nightwatch.” Then he took out a knife and slashed it repeatedly before he could be stopped. A short time later, a distraught, hostile man slipped into St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome with a hammer and began to smash Michelangelo’s beautiful sculpture The Pieta. Two cherished works of art were severely damaged. But what did officials do? Throw them out and forget about them? Absolutely not! Using the best experts, who worked with the utmost care and precision, they made every effort to restore the treasures. (https://bible.org/illustration/god-can-bring-good-out-our-failures) But there is a condition that must be met before an art restorer can do his or her work. The owner of the painting must submit the piece of art. He must let go and trust the restorer. But you want to make sure you have the right restorer, because there have been some epic failures in the past when it comes to restoring paintings. The right restorer, makes all the difference in the world, and the greatest restorer of human lives is Jesus Christ.

Do you have any stones of remembrance that mark the journey of your walk with the LORD that you can share with your children?   ~~~ At the introduction of this whole scene, back in chapter 4, it started in the town of Ebenezer, and at the end of chapter 7, Samuel raises an Ebenezer. The two locations are not the same, but the names are. It’s as if Samuel is saying, “All that was lost at the geographical city named Ebenezer has been restored to us through our Great Ebenezer.” Why do we find this occurrence so much in the OT, this practice of setting up stones? The stones would serve as a reminder to generation to come of God’s particular help in that particular time. It would be so that when a father and son were walking into the city of Beth-car and see that stone, the son would know about that there was a story behind the stone. So the father would begin to tell the story of when the Israelites lost a great battle due to their pride and arrogance. But how the LORD brought them to a place of repentance and trust in Him, and that He delivered them from the hand of the Philistines in a dramatic fashion. The Jewish people were great storytellers. So the boy would not only learn about God, but he would also walk away with an expectation that God would be involved in His life as well! What a treasure these stones must have been scattered all over the land. Do you have any stones of remembrance that mark the journey of your walk with the LORD that you can share with your children? A journal of the LORD’s working in your life that you can pass along to your grandchildren? What a gift to be able to share with your children how the LORD has worked in your life! Then they will grow up not only knowing your story and the faithfulness of the LORD to His word, but they will be expecting and anticipating the LORD to be faithful to His words of promise to them and to move on their behalf as well! And HE WILL!

Repentance positions you, it creates the condition, the atmosphere upon which the LORD will deliver, no matter who surrounds you.   ~~~   “As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the LORD thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were routed before Israel.” Notice, as we continue with the text, that as Samuel is offering the sacrifice, it is then that LORD came against the Philistines, throwing them into a confused mass, routing them into defeat. So just note with me, the people repented. They ridded themselves of idols. They established their hearts in the LORD. They began serve Him alone, fasting, praying, worshiping AND THEN, the enemy got closer, madder, bigger, meaner. Repentance does not put you in the place of non-conflict. Repentance positions you, it creates the condition, the atmosphere upon which the LORD will deliver, no matter who surrounds you.

When you put away the gods, when you burn the idols down, and establish your heart, your whole being, you settle the fact that you are turning mind, body, will, emotions over to the LORD, there will be testing.

Having a consistent and dedicated time of day spent with the Lord is important.

The primary draw of church should always be hearing from God, not about any other attraction.   ~~~   In 1 Samuel 7:5 Samuel calls all of Israel to join him for a corporate prayer time. The people show up, they confess their collective sin, they fast, going without food or water, symbolically saying that God’s favor upon them was more important than water and food in them. But I want you to notice what else is taking place here. Prayer is not only the people confessing their sin, crying out to God, but is also God speaking to the people. Notice that the text says that “Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.” When we see that word, “judged,” we do not need to have in our minds that Samuel was behind a desk in a long robe dropping the gavel deciding cases. That is not the idea, but rather that Samuel was bringing the word of God to light for the people, to bear on their situation at hand, and Samuel was bringing the people’s word before God. So prayer is today, that we speak to God, and He speaks to us through His Spirit-Inspired word. On the surface of it, church can seem kind of boring can’t it?—prayer and preaching and praise. Where is the excitement, the carnival, the game-like atmosphere? “How can I get my friends here if there is no attractional qualities?” You mean to tell me that the God of the universe speaking isn’t attractional enough? And that we get to speak to Him? And praise Him? What else might we dare put in the place of those? Hearing from God is not at all boring, neither should it be made to be boring. It is only boring to those who do not know who God is, or who have closed their ears to Him. Speaking to God is nothing short of exhilarating and terrifying at the same time, except to those who view God as a genie who gets things right only 3 out of ten times in their estimation.

If we truly mean it when we repent, it leads to life change.   ~~~   Repentance is tangible, not just tears. Real changes result when biblical repentance is happening. 1 Samuel 7:4 tells us that the people got rid of their idols. Sometimes I wish it were as easy as that. I wish it were easy to identify idols and put them in the trash. It is in some cases, but for us our idolatry comes in the forms of attitudes and thought patterns, and not in objects of metal or wood that we bow down to. But we are called to trash them just the same. Real Spirit-led effort. Real physical change in our lives, not just tears.

We must come to God without any idols to distract us.   ~~~   King Jesus begins his ministry with these words—“Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.” King Jesus ends his ministry with these words—“repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.” If you are a believer in Jesus, you need to hear the good news that there is no more wrath for you. None. God poured out all of His wrath against your sin on His Son, Jesus, so that He could pour out all of His blessing on you for eternity. But as we walk this earth, we can push that blessing aside for our own desires and we can fashion our own gods. Calvin said that our hearts are like idol factories. And God Almighty is calling out to us today, “If you want to return to me, you must come with nothing in your hands. No idols. No conditions. You must fix your mind, heart, soul on me.”

Idols are not just statues of false gods, but can include work, family, and other things.   ~~~   1 Samuel 7:3 “If you are returning to the Lord…direct your heart to the Lord…” This word “direct your heart…” is a little lightweight in its translation in my opinion. The idea behind the Hebrew word is “Establish” or “FIX” your heart (mind, will, emotions) to the LORD. So repentance, the turning away from sin and idolatry, is a spiritual, mental, physical decision AND action. In the New Testament Jesus tells the story of a man who threw a great banquet and invited many people. He told them well in advance about the banquet. And when everything was set up and perfect, he called for all the guests to come. But “they all alike began to make excuses.” Or to put it another way, their idolatries were showing. The first person said, “I just bought a field and I need to go see it.” Another person said, I just bought some oxen and I need to tend to them. Another person said, “I just got married, so I cannot come.” The idol of work, the idol of stuff, the idol of family. Their hearts were not established. Brothers and sisters, put away your idols. Burn them down. Establish your hearts in the LORD. And do this Day by Day.

We should have a specific prayer time and plan.

In spite of discomfort, we must fully turn away from idols and toward God.   ~~~   The idol of safety and security are built into our western culture. But being a Christian bears no promise that we will be safe and secure in the ways we would like. It is clear our culture values safety and security. And when this becomes a core part of your life, to the point where it keeps you from following the LORD, it’s very likely you have built and idol around being safe and secure.  Most of it is really driven by fear. We build up our safety net because we never want the time to come when our life is pulled out from under us. When you’re constantly worried about what might go wrong, the idol of safety and security may be creeping into your life. (https://herandhymn.com/2019/07/11/idols/) God demands that you burn those down. Get rid of social media if that is what it calls for. Get rid of the cell phone! Better for you to have missed calls than for your whole body be thrown into hell. Better for you to come maimed into heaven than to keep your hand. Isn’t that what Jesus says? Do you know why God demands exclusivity? He demands it for several reasons, and one of them being that He loves you and knows what is best for you. He cares for you. He doesn’t want to see you destroyed, but neither will He sully Himself by lowering His status to being one among the gods. “Put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you AND direct your heart to the LORD and serve Him only.” So the demand is to put the idols away, AND direct your hearts to the LORD. Repentance is a full-throated turning away from something, and a full-throated turning to the Lord.

Repentance is difficult because it calls us away from the comfort of our self-made gods and idols.   ~~~   What are the idols in your life? In the case of the Israelites, they were to trash the foreign gods and Ashtaroth to which they were holding. These foreign gods were most likely local, or philistine gods, and the Ashtaroth was a female fertility god that, if served, was to provide kids for you and a good crop. So understand what Samuel was calling them to give up. He was calling on them to give up what they currently held as the source of all of their livelihood. Not only that, they were giving up a religion that fed the most hijacked of desires. One of the ways you worshipped the Ashtaroth was through improper relationships that fed the basest of man’s desires. Their temples were a mix between an altar-sight and a brothel. This is what they believed brought them blessing… a syncretistic view of the gods…the mixing and matching of deities to create the right combination for their lives, and they believed Yahweh would go along. But He will not. So what are the idols in your life? What are the idols that surround us? What is it that we worship? Nationalism? Conservatism? Affluence? Wealth? What about the idol of false identity? This is the idol of the younger generation, and what I mean by false identity is that the younger generations are finding their identities in what they can create themselves to be in the social media world so that they believe that is their real identity. They like their virtual selves better than the reality. To them, their social identity, their virtual self is the most important thing in their lives. The problem isn’t our phones or social media or any form of technology. It’s the value and utility we place on it that makes it a problem. When our lives revolve around how many likes we get, what our following looks like, or if we can’t sit in silence for 5 minutes without refreshing our newsfeed, we have an idol. Anything that takes the place of God in our life, anything that becomes more important than him, is an idol. Repentance is difficult. No one is saying that it is easy. Repentance is costly. It calls us away from our current comfort-giving gods, it calls us to sever those tentacles that have become so entrenched in our lives, to which we have become dependent, BUT repentance calls us to a greater, higher reality that we are to live in day by day.

When we return to God, it is to be with the whole extent of our being.   ~~~   “return with all your heart” 1 Samuel 7:3 makes it clear that biblical repentance is a returning with all your heart. What does he mean when he refers to the heart? We must be clear here, because in our day, we associate the heart with love, emotion, romance. But that is not what Samuel is referring to. In biblical literature the heart is the most frequently used term for man’s immaterial personality functions as well as the most inclusive term for them since, in the Bible, virtually every immaterial function of man is attributed to the “heart.” Bowling, A. (1999). 1071 לָבַב. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 466). Chicago: Moody Press. In other words, when the Bible refers to the “heart of man,” it is often times referring to the mind, the will, and the emotions..the whole personality of a person. If you are returning to the LORD with the whole of your mind, the whole of your will, and the whole of your emotions, then it will show up in tangible ways in your life. Your trash can will be filling up. Your calendar will be clearing out. Your attitude will be changing. Repentance calls for you to bring out the gasoline and matches to burn down the gods and idols in your life.

True repentance is followed by a closer walk and singular allegiance to God.   ~~~   Jesus says in Matthew 10:34, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.” What is going on here? What does Jesus mean when He says that he did not come to bring peace but a sword? This is said in the context of “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves,” and also, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Jesus is saying that He did not come to be another addition to your charm bracelet, or to take up a little space in your already filled up life, or to make your life here on earth nice and comfy and to be at peace with all the other idols you have, and to be nice and get along with everyone, no matter what that takes. NO! He brought a sword for dividing and warring and cutting away all things that vie for the throne of your life because it is a one-seated throne upon which only HE belongs. William Cowper wrote in the hymn “O For A Closer Walk With God” this lyric: The dearest idol I have known Whatever that idol be, Help me to tear it from THY throne, And worship only THEE. Jesus will not entertain rivals in your life. You cannot cry out to God, asking Him to rescue you while holding on to your idols, and expect anything to happen. This is like begging your wife to take you back into the home all the while holding hands with a different woman. Or asking the doctor to remove the cancer, but leave just a little bit of it. So Samuel proclaims, “If this return to the LORD is truly of the LORD, then you will put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you.” Samuel makes it clear to God’s people that biblical repentance is a tangible repentance. In other words, tears and sorrow over sin is not the full extent of biblical repentance. It is to be met with the exclusive allegiance demanded by God Himself. Repentance is a holistic endeavor (returning with all your heart), physical (put away), mental (direct your heart), serve him only (exclusive). And we are called to it day by day.

As we study the Bible, we should formulate a reading plan.

To truly return to the Lord, we must put away idols.   ~~~   1 Samuel 7:2 “From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-Jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after God.” What does it mean to lament “after God”? The word “after” means exactly that, to be behind someone, like being behind someone in line. And if you are behind someone in line, then you are facing them, but they are not facing you. I think that is a good way to think of the situation. All of Israel is lamenting what they themselves have gotten into. They are crying out to God, but God is turned away from them. He is distant. Much like the ark of the covenant at this point, relegated to a high hill off in the distance. Why would the Lord be like this? Why did he stay turned away from them for so long? Verse 3 answers that question when Samuel says, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you.” The people of Israel were reaching out one hand to the LORD asking for His return, the blessing of His presence, His power, but with the other hand they held on to their idols. For twenty years. And here in lies the answer to perhaps some of our own misery, heartbreak, distance from God we experience in our lives. We say we want God’s closeness, but we still hug our idols. The reality is that you like the LORD, but you love your idols. Is God really this way that He would demand this type of exclusivity? Isaiah 59:2 “Behold! The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” Listen to Isaiah’s word here and get the message. He begins by arresting our attention on what he has to say—“Behold! Do you think that the reason God has not come to your rescue is because he is not strong enough? Is His arm too short that it cannot reach out to you and pluck you from the sinking mire? Do you think that He is too far away and that He cannot hear you? Perhaps too busy with other things? That is absolutely not the case. The fault lies with you, O man. Your sin that you still hang on to, the sin that you love and practice, has served like a veil and separated you from God. That is why God is hidden from you! That is why He does not respond to your prayers and calls and wails of mourning! You are asking for what you don’t really want. You ask for God, but you just want relief; you already have your gods that you are serving and of which you will not relinquish.” If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the idols from among you.

The Lord will work in the lives of the truly repentant, not those only interested in token religion.   ~~~   So today’s word is out of step with the world; it is like nails on a chalkboard that make modern man cringe, but that is a good thing, because the world is opposed to God. Our cadence is to be out of step. So what exactly is the scandalous message? Remember that 1 Samuel is written to give a historical account of how kings became primary players in the life of the people of Israel. So far we have not made it to when the people ask for a king, but we are getting close. But from this story the original audience would learn that victory and peace does not come from military might or from religious tokenism; victory/triumph comes from God by God. That God all by Himself is able to handle Himself, and the way back to God is through repentance; we are not to be asking God to rush to our sides and assist us in our own personal missions, but rather that we need to be rushing away from our personal missions back to God. That is the scandalous message—seeing, recognizing, confessing, naming, mourning over and owning your sin and repenting/turning away from your sin and following the LORD. The Lord stands ready to restore the repentant life, not religious tokenism/voodoo. The repentant heart is the condition of the Lord’s restoration. To see this in action come on back tomorrow.