1 Samuel 7-8 Gimme Gimme Sometimes Gets
A few weeks ago, brother Antoine complete chapters 5-6. We saw the Philistines who took the ark could not contain God’s power. God is not a dependent. He’s not some weak idol who depends on our belief. He doesn’t need me, He doesn’t need you. He is God. “Our God is in the heavens and he does all that he pleases” Psalm 115:3.
The people of Israel start to realize this when the Lord starts operating against them. At the end of chapter 6, 70 men perish because they looked upon the ark (perhaps with contempt). They recognize their major error, treating God like a lottery ticket or a good luck charm instead of knowing him for who he is they cry out, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?”
You know where revival starts? A recognition of who God is! Not treating him as a means to an end, but seeing him as the holy God, sovereign of the universe! The problem is, these men did not feel bad about not knowing who God is, but that they got a consequence for their actions. They felt bad about getting caught.
So, they behaved similar to the Philistines and hire another city, Kiriath-Jearim to take the ark. Most likely, the people of Kiriath-Jearim were known to be religious experts. This brings us to our first few verses:
And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. 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 the Lord.
We don’t exactly know from where the people who took care of the ark came; however Eleazar is a common priestly name; so it is likely that they were a Levitical family. Notice we have a large time lapse in between verse 1 and 2 of twenty years. The Israelites are lamenting this whole time, and their selfish sorrow slowly transformed into a godly sorrow. Godly sorrow always leads to spiritual renewal. Let’s look at the results:
And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out[1] before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.
Notice something here. When the Lord struck down the 70, the people were sorrowful. They’re response? Get rid of the ark. Now, the people are still sorrowful, but their current response is to get rid of their idols. Why? Because godly sorrow always leads to spiritual renewal. Let me give you some biblical examples of this.
Ungodly sorrow is focused more on the consequences.
16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
Esau sought a chance to repent with tears! This was not disingenuous sorrow; this was the real thing! What was he really concerned with? The consequences of his action. Ungodly sorrow is a hidden form of pride. Pity-parties act this way. You sound self-deprecating, like Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh), but what are you really doing during these times? Sympathy hunting. I need people to sympathize with me. Since ungodly sorrow pushes God away, it causes you to parasite that God-need onto other people.
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
Notice the two types of sorrow laid out plainly in this verse. Godly sorrow leads to salvation without regret; worldly sorrow produces death.
Sorrow is an unavoidable part of life (cf. Ecc. 3). Sadness has a way of taking off our masks and showing us who we really trust in. Maybe we say we believe in Jesus, but we created some unbiblical version of Jesus as the one we worship. Similar to what the Israelites must have done. They were aware of the law, to make no other gods, to worship no other gods; yet, they believed Yahweh was tolerant, not jealous, and began using idols. Sorrow shows who you trust in! Do you trust you can do it on your own? Do you see a parent, spouse, or friend as the one you can trust in? Do you have some genie in the sky you trust in? Is your heart mixed, that is, do you partly trust in God and partly trust in something else?
Samuel commends the people in the verse, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods.”
Some diagnostic questions we can ask ourselves in our sorrow (an aside about my lack of perfection on these things):
Why am I sad? Is my sorrow rooted in selfishness? Am I upset at God?
Am I sad even when I’m alone? Sorrow over sin grips the soul, rips it out, and does it in. Are you torn up about your sin, or just acting to save face?
Is my sadness leading me to God or away from him?
Godly sorrow always leads to spiritual renewal.
Let’s see what happens in the rest of our story
Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah[2], the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered[3] with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen[a] and called its name Ebenezer;[b] for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
The main point of this passage is: Put the Lord first and he will deliver you from your enemies.
But we need to do some work of defining here. Within the context these are real physical enemies coming at the Israelites with swords and spears. What kind of enemies do we face today? Well, surely we can face human advisories. They may not come at us with weapons of swords, but probably with weapons of words, harsh looks, putting us down every chance they get. How did Jesus teach us to deal with these enemies?
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[i] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
But physical enemies are not the only enemies we face. We fight the devil and his demonic forces (Eph. 6:12). We face our old sinful self (Rom. 6). And please hear me, you can have victory over your sin. Don’t live in defeat. Don’t be satisfied in your pity party. Listen to Samuel’s advice: ““If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” You’re fighting your sin, you’re struggling against it, yes! But in Christ, you are no longer sin’s slave! It has no power over you, you are victorious in Christ. Only seek the Lord with a pure heart, unmixed to devotion to other things and you will find victory over sin!
But there’s another enemy we face: death. “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:26). Here’s a song, I call “modern poetry” by Any Mineo on the topic:
My God, what a scene that I seen on that TV screen
People huddled round, hands on they mouth
Not again, same problem, it hit a new town
Where do you begin when some lives just ended?
And everybody got the question:
If God’s so good how He let this happen?
Is it mental health? Is it gun control?
Is it we make superstars out of animals?
Is it the movies we make? The video games?
I dunno, but God I want an antidote
All I know is this world is broken
Our sin is the reason it ain’t like it’s supposed to
Words fall short tryna comfort the grieving
But you gotta know that there’s hope to believe in
One day my God gon’ crack the sky
He gon’ bottle up every tear that we ever cried
Bring truth to every lie, justice for ever crime
All our shame will be gone and we’ll never have to hide
No more broken hearts, no more broken homes
No more lockin’ doors, no more cops patrollin’
No abusive words, or abusive touches
No more cancerous cells that’ll take our loved ones
No more hungry kids, no more natual disaster
No child will ever have to ask where his dad is
No funerals where we wear all black
And death will be dead and we’ll lock the casket
One day death will die! Put the Lord first and he will deliver you from your enemies!
Samuel lives out his days and it’s about time for him to retire. But he’s got a succession problem. His sons are a little bit corrupt.
15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord. When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
There are several reasons why the Israelites rejected the judge system in favor of a king. Our selfish desires, even if they seem good, can reject God. These are listed out by the commentator Robert Bergen:
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And 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. 8 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. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
So, God tells to warn them and give them what they want. . . but they’re going to get a warning. Listen to that:
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
You know, this always makes me think of the parenting examples or even teaching. A child or student wants to make an unwise decision. Sometimes, as a teacher I give them choices, “You can either stop talking, or you can get a write up and stop talking.” Other times I could give someone a warning like, “Sure, you can jump off that high fence post, but here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re pants leg will get caught, you’ll fall wrong off the post, land on your head, crack your neck, and be paralyzed for the rest of your life.”
Usually students decide not to go through their bad decisions. Well, this is kind of what Samuel does here. You want a king? Sure you can have that, but here’s what’s going to happen: he’ll take your kids as he pleases, command the army as he pleases, make you pay taxes, take your land, take some of your servants and animals, and you’ll basically be his slave. You’re life will become so miserable that you will cry out to the Lord to rescue you. Sounds pretty great right? So, what did the people decide to do?
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 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.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
So like little kids: “Gimme Gimme Gimme.” You know how toddlers can be. I know Judson, my three year old, something bad will happen to him, maybe he bonks his head or something, and he starts to cry. I come over to him and say, “Judson, why are you crying?” He responds, “I just wana watch Scooby Doo.” Which really had nothing to do with why he was really crying, but never waste a tragedy as the socialists say. (tongue in cheek)
Anyways, I imagine this like vanilla extract. You know, you’ve all cooked with vanilla extract. It smells WONDERFUL, but tastes awful. I imagine a scene where a child comes to help a parent or grandparent cook. The child gets a whiff of the vanilla extract, “MMMMM that smells good, can I try some?” The parent, of course knowing better, says, “No, you wouldn’t like it, trust me.” But the child insists over and over again, “gimme gimme gimme!” Finally the parent resolves, “fine, you can have a teaspoon.” The child in excitement takes the spoon, drinks it down, then their face turns sour.
The parent gave the child what he wanted, not out of some capitulation to the child’s will, but to teach a lesson. Sometimes we may want something. We may even have some good reasons for why we want it. But be careful to assume that just because God gives it to us means it’s a blessing. Sometimes God gives us what we want as a form of judgement.
What do you want? An easy comfortable retirement? Why? The American dream? Family life with no quarreling? Less responsibility? A different form of government? A new life? Gimme gimme sometimes gets. And just because you get doesn’t make it good.
You see, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, Christianity as a religion does not just train your “to do’s” it trains your “want to’s.” That is, it’s not just WWJD, “what would Jesus do?” but WWJW: “What would Jesus want?”
You have needs in life, needs to eat and drink. How did Jesus teach his followers to attain these needs? “Seek ye first whatever you want, who cares if that’s what God would see as best for your life?” No! “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”
Most of us here recognize Joel Osteen’s book Your Best Life Now is heresy simply because our best life, for those of us in Christ, is yet to come. However, most American Christians have bought into the lie that the best God has for your life is to become successful, or famous, or have a nice house, no worries, have no problems, no earthly troubles, just be comfortable. No, Satan would have you comfortable. So comfortable that you’re not concerned with the things of God!
Is it sinful to want nice things or want comfort? Not necessarily. But it is certainly wrong to think that this is God’s highest desire for you. What is God’s greatest want for you? To make you more like Jesus. Rom. 8:29, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son”
Jesus died to make you holy, Jesus didn’t die to make you comfy.
So, we’re left at a cliff hanger in our story. What will happen now? The king is obviously not the best for Israel. Who will be chosen? What will he do? These are things to be considered next week.
[1] Poured it out is in ref to drink offering. People were essentially saying they needed God more than water.
[2] Probably not supposed to gather large groups
[3] This fulfills what Hannah prayed concerning the LORD, The ancients believed that while an physical war was going on, there was simultaneously a war going on in the air as well. The Philistines would have taken this loud thunder as a bad omen.
