They Prayed for God's Help (1 Samuel 7:7-11, 13-14)

5/2/2010 7:36 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  They prayed for God’s help

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  1 Samuel 7:7-11, 13-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “7 ¶  Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8  Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines." 9  Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the LORD; and Samuel cried to the LORD for Israel and the LORD answered him. 10  Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel. 11  The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.

            “13 ¶  So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14  The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.”

            Prayer is a mighty thing especially when the children of Israel trusted in the Lord their God, and also because they had just got done confessing their sins and getting right with the Lord. 

            Now since all Israel gathered at Mizpah the Philistines thought that they were gathering for war against them, but that was not the case as they were gathering to confess their sins before the Lord and to through away their idols and get right with the Lord.  The Lord used this opportunity to defeat the Philistines and it was through Samuel’s prayer and sacrifice that He did so.  It is ironic that the Lord used thunder to confuse the Philistines so that Israel could route them, for Baal was the weather god and like in Egypt the Lord defeated the so called gods of Egypt.

            Whenever I read through the book of 1Samuel I think that there is not a lot said about Samuel, but what that is said shows how Samuel trusted in the Lord and how he led Israel in a truly godly manner.  Samuel’s life goes from a young child in the narrative to an older man who is leading Israel to an old man who anoints the first two kings of Israel.  Verse 13 tells me how great Samuel leadership was for it says that the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.  This meant that the Lord was with Samuel all of this time. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can’t help but to think about how powerful prayer is as I look at this section of 1Samuel.  I think about our missionary Jan Gebert and how the Lord answered the prayers of her family and many other people in healing this lady to the glory of God.  It is not always that way, having God answer believer’s prayers even though they are walking with the Lord, for sometimes the Lord has other bigger plans for people and all they need to do is to trust Him.  As stated in and earlier SD one has to work at getting rid of the idols that are in their life so that they can draw closer to the Lord and have wonder fellowship with Him so that the Lord will hear the prayers of the saints and move like He did in this section of Scripture.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.    I want to continue to think about a message that the Lord gave me a very long time ago, and has recently added to it and also has given me a chance to use it at GBC.  I want to pray that it will have a large effect on my life and those who hear it.

2.    Trust the Lord for the journey up to our home in Ohio, that He will give us safety all the way their and that our van will run good all the way there.