1 SAMUEL 7 - HIS MERCIES ARE NEW
1 Samuel 7
As chapter 7 of Samuel begins, we find that the ark of the covenant has returned, but the children of Israel have not returned to the Lord. And while they have appointed a priest and received the symbol of God’s presence, Israel still finds itself lamenting, even as it actively pursues to practice the religion of Judaism. But God is not interested in symbolic gestures and empty religious practices. Going to church, repetitive prayers, acts of absolution and good deeds is simply not what interests God. Rather, as Samuel tells the children of Israel in v. 3, what God is interested in is our hearts. “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.”
We have all allowed other god’s to creep in and replace the Lord.
Whether we are worshiping our careers, our families, a safe and secure future or simply ourselves (by desiring to please every whim or fancy), we must all decide whether we are prepared to return to the Lord with all of our heart. Religious practices alone will never please the Lord. Rather, as Peter teaches us, God is calling to Himself “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us” 1 Peter 2:9
God desires a true and intimate relationship with His people; a relationship in which we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and are prepared to put him first in our lives. This is both what God desires and what he deserves. And when we are prepared to respond to God in this manner, what will we find?
The power and beauty of chapter 7 is the willingness and openness with which God receives the children of Israel immediately after they have repented. We are so often afraid to approach God, because we know we are guilty; and like guilty children we expect to be punished. Contrary to our image of an angry, blood thirsty God, desperate for sacrifice and vengeance we find a God anxious to share His grace.
As we are told in Lamentations 3:22-23:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
And that is what we see as chapter 7 ends. Having returned to the Lord with all their hearts and having abandoned their idols, the children of Israel are immediately faced with a crisis. But having returned to the Lord with all their heart, they find a God ready and willing to fight on their behalf, as we see in v. 10, “But the LORD thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel.” The promise of God’s help remains for all who will serve Him with true hearts. As Jesus told His disciples in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”