Trusting in the Lord Alone - 1 Samuel 4: 1b - 7: 17

For thirty-four years it was my privilege to sit in one of the VIP chairs in the auditorium, gym or on a foot ball field, on a day in late spring, and watch several thousand graduating seniors march by to receive their diplomas. There are always exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking these young people had trusted parents to love, feed and clothe them; the police system to protect them and the educational system to educate them; and this had proven to be successful. They have been right for eighteen years and they feel sure of themselves. Few, if any, realize that a Higher Power has been at work giving cause for their success.

If you ask them what they plan to do about half will tell you that they plan to get a job, make money, and buy the things they want and go and do what they desire to do. The other half will say they intend to attend college first and then do the same kind of things. They are trusting in their education, their abilities, and worldly things to make the wonderful life possible. To be more specific—they have put their trust in money and things to help them be what they want to be. There are very few of these young people that have realized that God has a purpose in mind for each of them individually and that their success depends upon whether or not they find his will and walk in it. To place your trust in making life’s important decisions based upon people and things is a sure path to failure. Absolute trust can only be and must be in THE LORD ALONE.

I submit to you that these young graduates from high schools all over America represent, in a symbolic way, the mighty army of the Israelites that declared war on the Philistines in the early verses of chapter four. Eli had failed to teach his people that their dependence must be totally in God and instead they were depending upon their superiority in training and numbers to defeat the Philistines. The Israelites were defeated and 4000 died on the battlefield. They decided that they would go to Shiloh, retrieve the Ark and bring it back so that it would assure their success.

The two evil sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were at Shiloh guarding the Ark. They allowed the Israelites to take the Ark, knowing that it should not be. There was a great celebration in the Israelite camp, and when the Philistines learned that they now had the Ark, they were greatly disturbed. They remembered that this was the God that had won in Egypt and that he had protected these people for forty years in the desert. They charged the army to be brave and fight as never before or they would too be destroyed. So they attacked the Israelites and defeated them. This time the Israelites lost 30,000 foot soldiers. The Philistines captured the Ark and took it with them, and to fulfill Samuels prophesy, Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas died.

From a religious standpoint, the people in our lesson today had placed their total trust in the Ark of the Covenant; a man made box covered with gold that contained the ten-commandments and a rod that had always led the Children of Israel. They either had not learned or had forgotten that this Ark was a symbol, a reminder of who God is and what he can do. They were to respect it as God had taught them to do…but they were not to worship it as God and they were not to depend on the Ark to win their battles, when that power lies only in the hand of Jehovah God.

A carrier hurried back to Eli and told him what had happened. The 98 year old blind weak, fat priest fell out of his chair and broke his neck, ending his forty year reign. His daughter-in-law, wife of Phinehas, died as she was giving birth to the son she named Ichabod, which meant that God had departed from them.

Chapter five tells the story of the woes that came upon the Philistines for as long as they kept the Ark. They moved it from town to town and in each setting their people developed tumors and died. They placed the Ark near their main god, Dagon and the next day they found Dagon had fallen and broken to pieces. The people cried out for fear all would die, and the Ark was sent back to the Israelites. They prepared a special new cart, pulled by two cows with young calves, and also sent with it a piece offering of gold rats and gold tumors.

The Ark arrived at the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and placed on a large rock that is a witness to this day. Still, the Israelites had not learned their lesson, they opened the Ark and as a result God struck seventy men to death because they had been told not to touch the Ark. They too, wanted to get rid of the Ark and they sent messengers to Kiriath Jearim asking him to take it back to his place. He complied. And now we go to chapter seven for an explanation and the meat of our lesson for today.
Chapter seven says that Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the Ark of the Lord. The Ark remained there twenty years. During this period, God’s people were made to believe, and they sought after the Lord. Samuel observed the change in his people, and told them that if they were sincere, and would turn to God only and put away their other Gods [Baals and Ashtoreths] that God would deliver them out of the hand of the Philistines.

The people were sincere. Thy repented and turned to God only, and as a result they were successful in defeating the Philistines. They regained control of the towns from Ekron to Gath and all the neighboring territory, and peace returned to His people. Samuel continued to judge over the people the rest of his life.

The summary and heart of this lesson follows. Why wasn’t the Ark taken back to Shiloh and placed in the tabernacle? No one knows for sure, but think that it had been destroyed during the war. Shiloh is not mentioned again in the history books of the OT. Samuel made Ramah his home for the rest of his life. The people mourned for 20 years while the Ark was hidden away, and God seemed to have forsaken them,

Samuel, now a grown man, used some means [maybe he preached to them] to arouse them to action in God. They listened. They repented. They acted.
Maybe God is giving the coastal areas of the southern states twenty years of one hurricane after another to cause them to wonder if he has forsaken them. Or, just may be that he is giving California a few years of wild fires, floods and mud slides, and earthquakes to get their attention. Several states along the Mississippi flood plains have been flooded out more than once…just this year alone…maybe it is for a reason. How easy it is for us to complain about our problems. It is the state’s fault. It is the government’s fault. And we even complain to God, while we refuse to act for ourselves and do what he has commanded that we do.

Do you personally ever feel that God has abandoned you? Check the Good Book and see if you are carrying out the charges he has made on your life. I doubt seriously that God will give us the opportunities to do other things that we want to do until we have been obedient regarding what he has already directed us to do. One thing for sure if there is something in your life that is more important to you than God, it is your idol. Idols have to go. He alone is worthy of our service. The Ark was not an idol; but man made it an idol when they depended upon the Ark to protect them. There was nothing wrong with the Ark, it was being used wrongly. There is nothing wrong with wealth until it is used wrongly, in a selfish way or even as an idol.

I will close out the lesson today by reminding us that Samuel was really an outstanding person from birth to death. He really defied all of the rules of life that seem essential to parents today. He was given away by his earthly parent at an early age. His mother did not abandon him—but dedicated him to God. He was brought up in the tabernacle of an honest and sincere priest who was actually weak in his faith and ability to follow God’s will. We wonder where he obtained and maintained his total trust in God. It could only have been because of the prayers of his mother. God heard her prayers. Have you prayed that your son who has left home, or is associating with bad company [at least associations that are weak] –have you prayed that he might become like Samuel.

The most of the examples that were being set around this boy had to do with two evil sons that were outside of God’s will. Would you have been strong enough in your faith to have survived in his surroundings and still be faithful? His peer pressure was not good. The peer pressure that surrounds your children or grandchildren is usually not good, either. Will they be able to survive, and become as great in their field and he was as the best Judge Israel ever had? What is your responsibility in this matter? Are you taking your responsibility seriously and are you making positive moves to carry them out? You ask: “How can I be sure?” There is only one way and that is by: TRUSTING IN THE LORD ALONE.

This is not just an abstract thought! It will show up in a positive way when you read your bible often, pray without ceasing, deal with others fairly and honestly, attend your church, and work in its ministry, TRUST AND OBEY.