Show Notes
1 Samuel 4:1b-22
Pastor Christopher Chelpka
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] We thank you for drawing us into that and making us holy like you, glorious like you. We ask that you now would save your people. Bless those who are your inheritance. Nourish us and lift us up. Make us strong by your word. Grant us the blessings of your peace. Build up the walls of your temple with living stones. Draw in your people that we might worship you and glorify you, enjoy you forever.
[00:00:32] Lord, we pray that you would pour out your spirit not only on us, but from your exalted throne. Your spirit would be poured out on many who worship today, all who worship you in spirit and in truth. We pray particularly for our church plant in Yuma. We ask, Lord, that you would bless them and pastor roth this morning, encourage them and disciple them. Raise up, lord elders and deacons that might serve you many years in this place.
[00:01:07] And we also pray, Lord, for our other churches throughout the presbytery, particularly as the third stated meeting comes up. We pray that as the committees do their work and prepare, that you would help.
[00:01:22] You, would help all to take care and nourish your church throughout this region.
[00:01:30] We also pray for the church throughout the world in particular. Lord, we pray for our missionaries in the Czech Republic. We pray for Jerry in Maryland, farnick, and ask that you would bless them today and the people worshiping there, Lord, make your word effective in the hearts of your people.
[00:01:52] Ascend it out and that we might live. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:02:02] Well, if you're able to remain standing, please do. And let's turn our attention to one Samuel.
[00:02:19] I'll be reading chapter four, beginning in the second part of verse one.
[00:02:32] This begins a little mini series. We'll call it chapters four, five, and six, and some of seven, where the ark is captured and is among the Philistines for a while. And we'll be thinking about this as these things happen. The reason I'm starting at the second part of verse one is that that first part and the word of Samuel came to all Israel, I think is more properly attached to the last chapter.
[00:03:10] So this part of the story here begins in the second part of verse one. So we'll begin there.
[00:03:20] Let's hear the word of God. Give it attention with all our hearts.
[00:03:26] Now, Israel went out to battle against the Philistines.
[00:03:30] They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.
[00:03:34] The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about 4000 men on the field of battle. And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.
[00:04:03] So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who was enthroned on the cherubim.
[00:04:12] And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phenah were there with the Ark of the covenant of God.
[00:04:19] As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout so that the earth resounded. And when the PhiliSTInes heard the noise of the shouting, they said, what does this great shouting in the camp of the HeBREwS MEan? And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid, for they said, a God has come into the camp. And they said, woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods. These are the gods who struck down or struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Take courage and be MEn, o philistines, LEST you become slaves to the hebrews as they have been to you. Be MEN and fight.
[00:05:11] So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated.
[00:05:16] And they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter for 30,000 foot soldiers of all. Israel fell, and the Ark of God was captured. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phanas died.
[00:05:35] A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the side of the, by the road, watching, for his heart trembled for the Ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, what is this uproar? Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. Now Heli was 98 years old, and his eyes were set so that he could not see. And the man said to I am he who had come from the battle. I fled from the battle today. And he said, how did it go, my son?
[00:06:21] He who brought the news answered and said, israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons, Hafni and Phineas, are dead, and the Ark of God has been captured.
[00:06:35] As soon as he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate and his neck was broken and he died. For the man was old and heavy.
[00:06:47] He had judged Israel 40 years.
[00:06:50] Now his daughter in law, the wife of Phenahas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news the Ark of God was captured and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth. For her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death, the women attending her said to her, do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.
[00:07:14] But she did not answer or pay attention. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, the glory has departed from Israel because the Ark of God had been captured and because of her father in law and her husband.
[00:07:29] And she said, the glory has departed from Israel for the Ark of God has been captured.
[00:07:37] You may be seated.
[00:08:05] Well, it's easy to know what this story is about. The Ark of God. The word ark and the Lord's name attached to it appears all throughout this chapter and through the chapters to come.
[00:08:18] And it's not a good story in the sense that it's a sad story, as phinejas wife, as Eli's daughter in law puts it, twice emphasizing the point, the glory has departed from Israel. The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.
[00:08:43] The ark is first mentioned. However, a chapter or so back you might remember, if you were paying very close attention, that Samuel was near the ark. The scriptures say it was near the ark when Samuel or when he first thought Eli was calling him. When God was calling Samuel, it says he was by the ark. It's an interesting thing. It tells us sort of where he was in the temple. But it's not an accident. None of these details are of accidental.
[00:09:21] We begin to think about this question really early on. Who is by God's side?
[00:09:30] Who is by God's side? Or to put it another way, whose side is God on?
[00:09:37] People often want God to be on their side, and that is a good thing.
[00:09:43] But we often want it in strange and in odd ways or demanded in ways that we, we shouldn't. We have this sense that we know that if God is on our side, we are going to win. And of course we will, right? The one who made the heavens and the earth, or as the Philistines put it, the one who put all of these plagues on Israel. Or the ones. They're a little confused, right? They say God's there instead of giving that credit to Yahweh. But there's this sense that if you are connected with this power, that is awesome, powerful, almighty, able to do all these things, the victory is yours.
[00:10:27] And people want this in all kinds of ways, not just in military battles and things like this, but in their own lives.
[00:10:34] If God is on my side with relation to my marriage, that's a good thing. Or a relation to my finances or relation to my job.
[00:10:44] If God is on my side, I'm going to win, and those who are not are going to lose.
[00:10:54] So this passage, though, gets us to think about, who is this God that we want on our side?
[00:11:04] And what does it mean to be close to his presence? What does it mean to win? What does it mean to be connected with him?
[00:11:14] It's going to teach us three things about being on God's side.
[00:11:21] The first thing that we will think about is that sin separates us from God.
[00:11:29] This is something we have to realize very early on, that sin separates us from God. If we desire to be united to the Lord, if we want him to be on our side, helping us, helping us with the various things that we have, we need to stop being blind to this reality, that sin separates us from him.
[00:11:55] In this story, we see how this reality and blindness to this reality gets people really turned around. Let me put it another way. What happens when you don't recognize this? What happens when you don't see that sin separates you from God?
[00:12:13] We see this in a number of examples. Hoffni and Phineas are a good example. Of course, in the last chapter, we saw how these servants of the Lord, people that are dedicated to serving God, serving the people who were very close to God in their office, who were close to God, and the symbol of his presence, the ark included, were sinning in all kinds of ways.
[00:12:39] They were stealing from the sacrifices of the Lord. They were spiritually abusing the people. They were defiling the women who were serving at the temple. All these terrible things they were doing. It was known throughout the land. It was egregious. It was long term, and they didn't care.
[00:13:04] They seemed to be getting away with it.
[00:13:06] It seemed like sin wasn't separating from God. They were getting the material things they want. They were feeding their passions. They had power, right?
[00:13:17] Sin wasn't separating from God. It seemed as though God was on their side, but of course, he wasn't. God heard the cries of his people. God knew what was happening. And in time, God let them have what they wanted, which was the consequences of their sin. They didn't want to serve God. They didn't love God. They didn't love his people. They wanted their own passions and the things that their passions brought them.
[00:13:45] And ultimately, God gave them up to that.
[00:13:49] And he prophesied through Samuel and another prophet their coming death. He said there would be this sign of his judgment that these brothers, these sons of Eli would die.
[00:14:07] They would be separated from God permanently.
[00:14:13] Eli's own blindness to this is evident as well.
[00:14:18] He is there, the priest, ministering in all these ways, but he's not taking care of his sons, he's not disciplining his sons, and ultimately he dies as well.
[00:14:32] But this isn't just about a few bad actors. This is important to realize. It's not like everything's going fine in Israel. But, you know, there's these couple people, two, three people that are problematic.
[00:14:45] If you go back to judges chapter 13 this time, which overlaps with the beginning of one. Samuel, let me read this to you.
[00:14:59] This is right before the beginning of the story of Samson in judges 13 one. I'll let you turn there so you can see this with me.
[00:15:09] We see a remarkable thing.
[00:15:14] It says, and the people of Israel did again what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years.
[00:15:27] Now we see then, in this coming story, if you know it, what happens is the Lord raises up Samson as a judge to defeat the Philistines. And he does in a number of ways, but it's not complete. There continues to be problems. Samson himself will die in part because of his own sins and his own disobedience.
[00:15:51] Israel has a very deep problem, a deep, deep heart problem that is not going the way. And in the same way that the Lord has separated Eli and Hofni and phanas, he's also separating himself from his people because, again, of their sin, he is giving them over into the hands of the Philistines. And we see that happening here in one Samuel, chapter one, or, I'm sorry, four here. It's not just a problem within the priesthood. It's a problem within the people, and it's a problem that we all experience. We can't just isolate this to these few bad actors or this people at this particular time and place. We need to take these lessons to our own heart. Sin doesn't just separate people of the past from God. It separates us from the Lord.
[00:16:52] The scriptures tell us that sin is falling short of the glory of God.
[00:17:01] And when we fall short of the glory of God when we fail to obey in the ways that we are called to. And there is death, there is judgment, there is separation, and we see that all crystallized here in the ark.
[00:17:17] Now, the ark was this symbol of God's presence.
[00:17:22] It says in the chapter of God that he is the one who is enthroned above the cherubim.
[00:17:30] The Cherubim are angels. It's a hebrew word for the angels, for the heavenly hosts.
[00:17:38] Now, this is true of the Lord, right? He is supreme, not just above the sea creatures and the creeping things and the birds and us. He is also king above all spiritual beings as well, including his angels.
[00:17:55] They are his servants, they are his messengers. They are sent out to minister to his people, do all his holy word. And he is captain over them, king over them. He rules above them. And this is spoken about many times in many ways. I think we read about it in psalm 148 and it's symbolized visually in the ark.
[00:18:19] If you read descriptions of the story of the Ark, you'll read about how there were these angelic beings on the top of the ark, kind of pointing their wings inward. Right? And it's said that the Lord is.
[00:18:34] The ark is described in some places of scripture as his footstool.
[00:18:39] It's the place where God, who cannot be contained in temples or in all the heavens and the earth, he rests his feet.
[00:18:49] So if you think that the ark is equivalent to God, you are not hearing rightly. You're not thinking rightly about who God is. If you think God can be contained to a medallion around your neck or a saying on your lips or an object in a temple, you're very wrong.
[00:19:11] And you will find that you will see exactly how wrong you are, as the Philistines will notice. And as Israel is noticing at this moment, as the ark goes on the move, so God, in judging Israel, first allows the Philistines to attack and to defeat Israel wisely. The elders notice it. Did you notice that detail in verse three?
[00:19:45] And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? That is a good question.
[00:19:55] Well done, elders of Israel. Right?
[00:19:59] They recognize that it's not just the Philistines who have defeated Israel which has happened, but it is the Lord who has defeated Israel through the Philistines.
[00:20:12] So, so far, so good.
[00:20:15] The problem, though, is they think that the answer is to just bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
[00:20:22] The answer, the solution to the problem is sin.
[00:20:27] You know, if you go to the doctor. And you get a wrong diagnosis, and then you get a prescription to fit the diagnosis that is wrong, you're on the wrong track, you're going to have a lot of problems. And that's what's going on here. They see the problem. They feel the symptom, the Lord is against us. The Lord let us be defeated. Ah, well, you know what we'll do? We'll bring the ark here. That's not the problem.
[00:20:54] The problem, as we read in judges 13, is their sin, exemplified in the priests that are called to minister to them, bring them in communion and fellowship with God, and is exhibited in many other ways throughout the people.
[00:21:11] So they're on the wrong track. They decide to bring the Ark of the covenant among them, and they're excited.
[00:21:21] Verse five. As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout so that the earth resounded. Can you imagine how terrifying that would be from the enemy's perspective? Right? You're there, you feel like things are going pretty well, right? Remember Philistine and I, the people of Philistia and Israel, they draw up these battle lines and then things go crazy and they all run to their own homes, right? And, you know, you're sitting kind of pretty, feel pretty good. And then all of a sudden you're there in your camp and then the hills start shaking with the shouting of people.
[00:22:03] The earth itself is just rumbling and echoing with the sound of all of these people yelling, right? And then they say, what does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?
[00:22:20] Somehow they learn that the Ark of the Lord has come into the camp.
[00:22:26] And then we read they were afraid and they're really afraid.
[00:22:33] They have to encourage themselves, right? Beam in and fight. Don't give up. Get in there. Let's get this done, right?
[00:22:43] They don't just say, oh, what's a big deal? It's a box, right? No, they are afraid, they say, and why are they afraid? Because they know the God who is over Israel, sort of.
[00:22:58] They say a God has come into the camp.
[00:23:02] God is on their side. As we thought about at the beginning, there's this power, they believe that is connected with the Israelites that is going to save them. And they can look at the example of what, as they put it, these gods did. Of course, it wasn't multiple gods. It was one God who struck down the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.
[00:23:26] It was the Egyptians who had actually rebuffed the Philistines in an earlier time that is why the Philistines are there now in this particular place.
[00:23:37] That's another time, another story.
[00:23:40] So they in some ways know how big and bad the Egyptians are. And now here's this God who has destroyed, destroyed the Egyptians with all of these plagues. Take courage and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves of the Hebrews.
[00:23:59] And then they win, right? It's not what you're expecting. The Ark of the Lord has come in.
[00:24:09] Israel goes out to battle. Israel is excited. Philistia is scared. And then the Philistines fought, and they're defeated. And every man goes to his home. There was a very great slaughter.
[00:24:22] 30,000 foot soldiers of Israel fell. The Ark of God was captured. And then Eli and Phineas die. The news of the course of this is then results in Eli's own death.
[00:24:36] Sin separates us from God.
[00:24:40] That's the first thing to realize. The second thing to realize is that we don't fix that problem by controlling God.
[00:24:50] We don't fix the problem of our sin by just manhandling him and getting him into the place that we think we need him to be.
[00:25:00] We don't fix our communion problem with God, our fellowship problem with God, our sin problem with God by just getting proximately close to spiritual things.
[00:25:13] Sometimes I, as a pastor, people, I'll meet with people and they'll say, they'll strangers, not people and not members of our church, but, you know, strangers in various situations, and they'll say, oh, you're a pastor, could you pray for me?
[00:25:30] And I always think that's kind of an interesting comment.
[00:25:33] On the one hand, I understand it, and of course, I do pray for them. I'm glad they're asking for prayer.
[00:25:41] Maybe there's a sense in which they feel like this is a calling that I have, and so they're asking me to fulfill that. And there's nothing wrong with that. But there is part of me that sort of has this sense of like they're thinking that they're somehow a little closer to holiness, and somehow it's going to sort of rub off and they'll get the thing that they want or the way that people will sometimes, you know, come to church or something like that. Not because their heart's desire to communion with the Lord, but because they just feel like this is kind of the right thing to do. And you got to be around spiritual things in order to kind of get that little bonus in your life.
[00:26:26] And some people are just very, very, very superstitious. It's not subtle. At all. It's very much like you see here.
[00:26:36] If I wear this cross, if I say this prayer, if I do these actions or carry this token or symbol or this or that, if I'm near the right person or if I say the right words, that I'll have a kind of covering over me, a protection over me.
[00:27:02] I've seen people wear christian symbols. Even it says that comforts them and even is written on the symbol itself that I will not die if, as long as I'm wearing this.
[00:27:18] Sin. Though the problem of sin is not solved by tokens and symbols.
[00:27:28] God gives to us symbols. He gave the people the ark. It's a means of grace. God gave to them the priesthood. God gave to them this place in Shiloh. Eventually, later, a temple in Jerusalem. God gives to us baptism. He gives to us the Lord's supper. He gives to us one another. He gives us signs of his, of his work, the fruit of his spirit, all kinds of things. God gives these things to us, and they are meant to encourage us.
[00:27:54] But the means of grace are not God himself.
[00:27:58] And when we attach God from the things that he has made, from the things that he has given, begin to put our trust in those things. A lot of times it's just a cover in a bad way, in a hiding way for the real problem that's inside a band aid. Fix over our sin when what we really need is the righteousness of Christ and the forgiveness that comes through the cross.
[00:28:30] One of the things that we learn in this chapter and in the coming chapters is that God's presence does not automatically guarantee victory.
[00:28:42] Sometimes God's presence automatically guarantees defeat.
[00:28:50] I said that wrong, but you get the idea.
[00:28:53] God is not a token, an automatic win, as long as we can sort of manipulate him and say the right things or live our lives in a right way, and then we get what we want. He's the creator of heaven and earth. As Hannah prays, he kills and he brings to life.
[00:29:12] He blesses and he curses.
[00:29:17] The good thing, one of the good things that we have is that God is not confusing about this in many ways. He's not mysterious about what it is that he wants from us. He wants righteousness. He wants holiness. He wants obedience.
[00:29:38] Now, we often don't want to recognize that that's the core problem, because a whole bunch of things, one, we love our sin. It's just so fun. I guess in the moment, at the time, it's a shortcut. We think it'll give us what we want.
[00:29:52] I think there's another part of us that feels like, well, what can I do?
[00:29:57] I sin.
[00:29:59] I commit these sins, I do these things. I'm separated from goddess.
[00:30:05] I can't do anything about this. I keep failing in the same ways I keep separating myself from God. I keep earning for myself punishment. What can I do? And so we try various things.
[00:30:20] Well, the truth is that we can't really do anything to solve the core problem.
[00:30:25] We can't heal ourselves. We can't bring life out of death, especially when we're the dead ones.
[00:30:36] The good news for us is that the problem of sin that separates us from God is solved by God effectively, permanently and graciously.
[00:30:51] The good news for us is that he doesn't tell us here. Grasp around for divinity like things and manipulate me so that you can get what you want. No, he says, trust me and I'll save you. Even from yourselves, even from your sin. Don't trust in horses and chariots. Don't trust in cymbals. Don't trust in.
[00:31:16] Don't trust in other armies. Don't trust in your own power. Trust in me.
[00:31:24] Believe me, I'll save you from your enemies. I'll save you from yourselves. God says, stop trying to control me and own me and make me do what you want me to do, but receive a gift from me. Receive my promise. God knows how to get us unstuck.
[00:31:50] God knows how to fix our problems.
[00:31:53] He's the great mighty one who rules above the cherubim. He's the one who has this mighty heavenly host. Do you think he can take care of our problems? Of course he can.
[00:32:06] How does he do it?
[00:32:08] Well, one way he does it is he allows us to see how dark our sin is and how much it separates us from him.
[00:32:16] He allows us to see even as we are ourselves this morning, seeing in one Samuel, chapter four, that sin separates us from the Lord. Sin brings us under his judgment. Sin brings us under his wrath.
[00:32:32] The cause of our separation from him, the diagnosis that we all need to hear is that it's sin.
[00:32:40] And if we don't see it here, if you don't see it here, you can see it on the cross.
[00:32:45] When the Lord of heaven and earth takes on human flesh, dies on a cross as a sacrifice for sin.
[00:32:56] He comes into this world to save sinners from their sin, from their disobedience.
[00:33:03] This is the problem. And the Lord helps us to see it. He's helping you to see it this morning. Sin is what separates you from God.
[00:33:17] There's a second thing the Lord lets us see. The second thing that the Lord shows us, and that's his power, if he wants to defeat Israel, he'll defeat Israel. And as we'll see very soon, if he wants to defeat the Philistines, he'll defeat the Philistines. We see the power over death and over life in Jesus, too.
[00:33:39] Jesus when he comes, we see him cursing a tree.
[00:33:45] We see him bringing things to life, healing people, exercising demons, walking on water, making bread and fish multiply out of just a few little things.
[00:33:58] We see the power of God on display, and we see it also in the cross.
[00:34:04] On the cross of Christ, death is defeated. Satan is ashamed, the enemies are routed. He is powerful. He is the God who defeated the Egyptians. He's the God who defeats Israel. And he's the same goddess who by his grace, subdues our own hearts, our rebellious hearts, our fighting hearts, our wicked hearts. He subdues us according to his kingly power and his grace.
[00:34:38] Ignore him at your peril, because according to our sin, he is our enemy in our sinfulness, in our disobedience and our rebelling against him. This God of first Samuel, this God of the Bible, this God who is still living and active and powerful today.
[00:35:01] He is an enemy of sinners.
[00:35:06] And he promises the Lord Jesus promises to one day return and bring complete and final judgment on all who refuse use to obey him.
[00:35:16] Do not ignore him. Do not ignore his judgment. Do not ignore his power. Do not ignore his wrath. You do so to your own death.
[00:35:29] But he also, as I've said, reveals himself in another way.
[00:35:33] He's not just the enemy of sinners, he's the friend of sinners, not because he ignores what they do, but he promises salvation for them. When we look to the cross of Christ and trust in the work that he does to save us from the sin that separates us.
[00:35:53] The scriptures tell us that Jesus, as Pastor Roth was going to preach on, comes into this world. A light that comes into this world. Darkness does not overcome it. He comes into this world. He is said to tabernacle in this world, to dwell in this world. He comes close to us even though we had separated ourselves from him.
[00:36:19] He comes in his power. He comes in his glory that is shown through the cross of Christ, and one day will be shown even more gloriously when he comes again.
[00:36:32] God solves the problem of our sin in Christ, and so we can ignore him to our own peril as sinners, but we also ignore him to our own peril as he is our savior.
[00:36:51] God offers to us in Christ a salvation that is more complete than just a little bit of peace from an enemy for a little bit of time.
[00:37:01] He gives us strength and strength and forgiveness and hope in Christ that is free from all enemies for all time.
[00:37:13] When he ushers us up into heaven, we will not worry anymore.
[00:37:18] God will be perfectly on our side forever and ever.
[00:37:24] We must trust him and him alone.
[00:37:29] So if you want God to be on your side, this is a good thing. He is gracious and powerful and active. He can help and restore and heal and forgive.
[00:37:43] Maybe you need strength in this life against temptation.
[00:37:49] Maybe.
[00:37:51] Maybe you need the God to be on your side with regard to the healing of your body and ultimately the resurrection of your body from the dead.
[00:38:01] Maybe.
[00:38:03] Maybe you need a God on your side for the forgiveness of your sins.
[00:38:10] Or maybe you're as needy as I am and you need it all if this is what you want.
[00:38:19] Healing, communion, fellowship, forgiveness, power, strength, glory, honora victory.
[00:38:28] If you want to glorify God and enjoy him now and forever, then you have to stop making excuses for sin.
[00:38:37] You have to stop controlling God, ignoring God, and acting like you're number one and he's your vending machine.
[00:38:46] We need to recognize his power.
[00:38:49] We need to recognize his holiness. We need to see how we fall short of it and then accept what he is freely offering to us in Jesus, a salvation that is so complete we are drawn close to him, so close to him even now that Jesus says we abide in him and live in him, receiving the life of God in ourselves that swells up even unto eternal life.
[00:39:26] That's what we need to do.
[00:39:29] Not cover our sin or manipulate God, but bow before him and his grace that he gives to us in Jesus.
[00:39:40] Let's pray.
[00:39:43] Our heavenly Father, all glory and honor and power to you. Forgive us for our superstitions. Forgive us for our manipulations and the ways that we use these things to cover up for our own sin.
[00:39:55] Lord, we ask now with great humility that you would expose the wickedness in our hearts of evil that separates us from you and the ways in which we fall short of the glory of God.
[00:40:08] We ask that you would impress these truths upon us so that we might abhor and humble ourselves before you, so that we might walk away from the foolishness of trying to save ourselves, even through religious things, even through things that you have blessed and instead seek blessing in you.
[00:40:35] Lord, we thank you that you allowed yourself to go, to come into this world to take on flesh, and that you, o Jesus, did nothing find defeat.
[00:40:53] But you rose again from the dead and have promised that all who put their faith in you are more than conquerors.
[00:41:03] Lord, we ask that the same sign that was fulfilled to Eli on the death of his sons and even his own death that this sign of judgment would also be to us a sign of promise and of salvation.
[00:41:18] For in the words of your prophet Samuel, you not only prophesied of the signs of the fall of these men and the salvation of your people but a coming priest, a coming prophet and a coming king who is of course our savior Jesus.
[00:41:35] As we see the death of Eli and Hofni and Phinejas, as we recognize our own sinfulness and we we see the danger of it, let us also see this as a sign of salvation, a fulfillment of your promises and a hope for the things that have come.
[00:41:56] Lord, help us to bow ourselves before you in all honor and reverence.
[00:42:02] For you alone are one true and living God. O great creator and savior.
[00:42:10] We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
