The Lord Thundered
I have been re-reading 1 Samuel 1-7 in order to embed the lessons deeply into my heart. They are powerful and important:
- 1 Samuel 1 - True spiritual blessing often comes through deep pain and loss, and must be accompanied by a commitment to devote our most precious things to the Lord.
“O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life," 1 Sam 1:11
- 1 Samuel 2 - This is part of a pattern in which God consistently raises up the humble, the broken-hearted and the desolate, and puts down those who are proud in their inmost thoughts (Luke 1:51)
"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." 1 Sam 2:3
"He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap." 1 Sam 2:8
- 1 Samuel 3 - Young Samuel serves as a prime example of the kind of person whom the Lord blesses. He is servant-hearted, open to gaining wisdom, and courageous for the Lord.
"Speak for your servant is listening" 1 Sam 3:10
- 1 Samuel 4-6 - On the other hand Israel and the Philistines serve as examples of those whom the Lord will not bless. They are presumptuous and proud. God deserts his people if they are like this, and he judges the world and humiliates its "gods" for this.
The Lord's hand was heavy upon the people 1 Sam 5:6
- 1 Samuel 7 - True blessing can return if God's people actively put away their false gods, devote their hearts to God, and serve him in everything they do.
“If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only" 1 Sam 7:3
There will be those of you reading this who most deeply identify with different elements of this story. Some will be enduring loss, some determined to cultivate the characteristics of young Samuel, some in spiritual danger because of pride and presumptuousness. But perhaps the majority of us find the greatest resonance with 1 Samuel 7. We are not in acute misery, or feeling that God has completely deserted us, but neither could we say that we feel the power of the Lord surging through us. In 1 Samuel 7, the ark was safely in Israelite territory, and the outright ungodliness of previous years was gone. But they still mourned, and longed for deeper blessing (1 Sam 7:2). This continued for twenty years.
This is a common experience amongst churches in Britain at the moment. There are real signs of blessing, but also a sense of vulnerability, frustration, and weakness, against the "gods" of our modern age - money, sex and power - which constantly tempt, harry and threaten believers. And for us as a local church I sense this. This is not a day when "the glory has departed from Israel" (1 Sam 4:21). Indeed we have recently witnessed conversions, people enquiring about God, and real spiritual progress amongst some believers. But neither is it a day of overwhelming victories.
So what needs to happen? On our side Samuel's words in 1 Samuel 7:3 are really important. He called the people to:
- put away the foreign gods from among you (ESV).
Our idols are always "good things which we make into ultimate things" (Tim Keller). What good things have become idols in your life? They must be de-centred, put back into their place, "remove the foreign gods from your midst."
- direct your hearts to the Lord (ESV).
Our hearts are the seat of all desire, all purpose and all action. If our deepest desires are not focused on the Lord then we will always be deeply compromised, and weak.
Practical action is the outworking, and evidence of inner realities. Humble labouring for the Lord in all we do also reinforces our inner commitment, to put away idols and devote our hearts to delighting in God and displaying his glory.
Israel confessed their sins and fasted in response, while Samuel prayed and offered a sacrifice. Today we have Jesus as our main intercessor (Romans 8:34), and his death was a sufficient sacrifice for all of our sins (1 John 2:2). But there remains still the call to deep and sincere penitence and devotion to the living and glorious Lord. Fasting can help us express and cultivate a hunger for God which is deeper than all other appetites. (See John Piper's book, A Hunger for God for an exposition of this.) Do you ever fast?
But there is something else which still needs to happen after that. In 1 Samuel 7:10 we read that "the Lord thundered" and routed his enemies. This is a defining moment the whole of 1-2 Samuel. Hannah had predicted that the Lord would thunder (1 Sam 2:10) and long afterwards David's summary of the Lord's help included "the Lord thundered from heaven" (2 Sam 22:14).
I am deeply hungry for God to do great things amongst us. This week I have been focusing on 1 Samuel 7:3, in order to set my heart in order before the Lord. Will you join me? But that on its own will achieve precisely nothing. I am praying for the voice of the Lord to be heard loud and clear in unmistakable ways amongst us, in Oxford, in Britain, and in the world. I am praying for the Lord to thunder. Please join me in this.
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