About 1 Samuel 7, part 2
1 SAMUEL 7
We will continue on from last week’s first look at chapter 7.
“When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him.”
If you recall from last week’s post, Samuel and the Israelites are at gathered Mizpah, where they have repented from their wicked ways, turned away from their sins, purified the land through pouring out water on the ground and are fasting all while Samuel is praying to God on their behalf.
The Philistines hear about this and decide to attack.
Now, it’s been twenty years since the Philistines suffered the wrath of God by being in possession of the Ark, so it’s possible that they forgot who they were dealing with. Or they could’ve also just thought that they had defeated the Israelites once before with them having the Ark, they could do it again. However, the Israelites were not the same people they were twenty years ago. Not only did the Israelites know who they had on their side, they were in the process of realigning themselves with God. This time, they were seeking the presence of God, that’s why instead of succumbing to fear, they begged Samuel to continue on “pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines.” And guess what? The Lord answered:
“Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.”
You see, the enemy will take any and all opportunity to attack, his success depends on our relationship status with God. Are we in His presence? Are we putting Him first in our lives? If so, the enemy has no chance. But if we’re off doing our own thing, we are already defeated.
Right now, there might be something or someone you might be placing above God. It can be music, television, a boyfriend or girlfriend, social media, whatever. You might even find yourself in a cycle - you think you’ve overcome the struggle, but then the enemy comes and trips you up. How does this happen? By slowly, but surely pulling you away from God.
It can start by you downloading a new song, or someone giving you a little extra attention. The enemy knows that if he can get you to not pray, to not read the Bible, he can lead you astray.
So, what do you do when that happens?
We can take some steps from this chapter:
Recognize and acknowledge that you have gone far from God and as a result, your relationship has gone dry.
The Israelites mourned because it seemed the LORD had abandoned them. [7:2, NLT]
God hasn’t abandoned you. He is waiting for you to return to Him.
Get rid of your idol(s).
remove yourself from that which has taken your heart away from God and do it without hesitation like the Israelites did.
Pray.
Samuel prayed to the Lord on behalf of Israel, but you have direct access to Him. You can pray for yourself and you can reach out to godly counsel to pray with you and for you.
Cleanse yourself.
The Israelites “drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day” [7:6b, NLT]. I’m not saying to go get baptized every time you sin, but cleanse yourself from your sin. Have a day or two, or seven - however long you need - to fast and clean yourself physically and spiritually.
Don’t be surprised when you get attacked.
The Philistines took advantage of the Israelites gathering and attacked, but did not succeed because the Israelites prayed more. They were in the presence of God, and as you go through this realignment, the enemy will attack you, but if you remain in God’s presence, the enemy will not succeed.
I encourage you to go through these steps every time you feel distant from God. I do.
I had to set down some boundaries with myself. One of them is that I don’t talk to guys from 10pm to 10am, no excuses. Not that I had personally been doing anything wrong myself, but some guys be trying it and to protect myself I had to set some ground rules.
Here’s the thing though, God doesn’t want us to not have fun, however, fun outside of a boundary can open the door to the enemy.
As a follower of Jesus, I choose to live a surrender life - God’s will over my own, just like Jesus. Jesus gave up His life for my sake, as part of God’s will, so I can give up my phone, social media, or whatever else to ensure that I am an effective citizen of the Kingdom of God.
What are you willing to give up?
Let me know in the comments below.
