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Bible Insights

Hannah’s Prayer of Praise

Psalm 161 from Beyond Psalm 150

Hannah lives a difficult life. First, she must share her husband’s affections with another woman. Second, Hannah is childless, while her husband’s other wife, Peninnah, isn’t. And Peninnah repeatedly mocks Hannah for her infertility.

Despite his love for her, Hannah’s husband dismisses her pain over being childless. He doesn’t understand her emotional anguish. At the temple Hannah prays earnestly for a son. But the priest accuses her of being drunk.

No one understands her, but God does. He hears her prayer and gives her a son, Samuel.

Here’s Hannah’s psalm of praise to God after the birth of her son.

“My heart exults in Yahweh!
    My horn is exalted in Yahweh.
My mouth is enlarged over my enemies,
    because I rejoice in your salvation.
There is no one as holy as Yahweh,
    for there is no one besides you,
    nor is there any rock like our God.

“Don’t keep talking so exceedingly proudly.
    Don’t let arrogance come out of your mouth,
    for Yahweh is a God of knowledge.
    By him actions are weighed.

“The bows of the mighty men are broken.
    Those who stumbled are armed with strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread.
    Those who were hungry are satisfied.
Yes, the barren has borne seven.
    She who has many children languishes.

“Yahweh kills and makes alive.
    He brings down to Sheol and brings up.
Yahweh makes poor and makes rich.
    He brings low, he also lifts up.
He raises up the poor out of the dust.
    He lifts up the needy from the dunghill
    to make them sit with princes
    and inherit the throne of glory.
For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh’s.
    He has set the world on them.
He will keep the feet of his holy ones,
    but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness;
    for no man will prevail by strength.
Those who strive with Yahweh shall be broken to pieces.
    He will thunder against them in the sky.

“Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth.
    He will give strength to his king,
    and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

1 Samuel 2:1–10 (WEB)

Reflections on Hannah’s Prayer of Praise

There’s no guarantee our life will turn out as we wish. And even when it seems everyone is against us, we can take comfort, knowing that God is always with us and will provide.

Do we praise God for his provisions? Are we willing to praise him during our discouraging times too? May we offer our praise to Yahweh during the good times and the not-so-good times.

Explore the other psalms—sacred songs of praise, petition, and lament—scattered throughout the Bible in Peter’s book Beyond Psalm 150.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Bible Insights

The Final Failing of King Saul

The King Claimed to Be Afraid of His Men, When He Should Have Been Afraid of God

From a human standpoint, Saul appeared he had what it would take to be king. Yet from God’s perspective, his first king fell short. Saul had many character flaws, which ultimately caused God to reject him as king.

God picked David to replace Saul. Though David had his own share of missteps, God affirmed him as a man after his own heart (Acts 13:22).

But the book of 1 Samuel isn’t about King David. It’s about king Saul. It starts with Samuel anointing him as king (1 Samuel 9) and ends with Saul taking his own life 23 chapters later (1 Samuel 31).

Between his promising beginning and his shameful end, we read a series of King Saul’s failings. Perhaps the most fateful one occurs in 1 Samuel 15. Here’s what happens:

Samuel comes to the king with a message from God. He tells King Saul to go and completely destroy the Amalekites because of how they had earlier treated his people.

The instructions are clear. Do not spare anyone or anything. This includes both people and animals.

Saul raises an army and attacks the Amalekites, but he doesn’t completely destroy them. Instead, he lets the king live and spares all the choice animals. This is in direct opposition to what God told him to do.

Yet when Samuel confronts Saul for his failure to obey God’s instructions, the king insists he did exactly as commanded. Yet when Samuel presses him, Saul gives a different explanation.

He says he saved the animals because he was afraid of his men.

At this point, he admits he sinned. But it’s too late. God will not give King Saul any more chances. As punishment, God pledges to remove the kingdom from Saul and give it to another.

Saul claimed he was afraid of what his men would do, but he should have been more afraid of what God would do.

We should always fear God more than people.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 14-16 and today’s post is on 1 Samuel 15:24.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

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Christian Living

Will You Pray for Us?

The People of Israel Ask Samuel To Intercede for Them

Throughout the Old Testament, the Philistines show up as a recurring nemesis for God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel. The Bible mentions the Philistines 191 times in seventeen of the Old Testament’s books.

In most of these cases the Philistines are doing something to harass the Jewish people.

Today’s passage is one of many such examples.

Pray for Us

The Philistine army advances to attack Israel, and the people fear what will happen. They go to the prophet Samuel and ask him to “pray for us,” to intercede and seek God’s provision for deliverance from their enemy.

“Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God,” they beg, “so that he will rescue us from the Philistines.”

Though the Bible doesn’t specifically say that Samuel prays, we can assume he does. Then Samuel offers a burnt offering to God.

When the enemy army draws near, God produces a mighty thunder and the Philistine army goes into a full-scale panic. In complete disarray, the Israelite army easily routes them, killing many and winning a significant victory.

Then Samuel sets up a stone as a monument to commemorate the event. He calls it Ebenezer, which means “stone of help.” This serves as a reminder to the people of how God worked through nature to bring about a victory for the Israelite army.

Pray for Yourselves

This passage is a tribute to God’s power and of Samuel’s intercession for the people. Yet why did the people need Samuel to pray for them? Why did they need him to be there liaison to God?

They could have sought God directly and personally asked him for deliverance. But they didn’t. It could be that their faith was weak, and they didn’t feel they could approach God.

Another explanation is that their theology was in error, and they didn’t realize they could pray directly to God.

Today, we can go right to God in prayer. Do we do this or ask someone else to pray for us? What does this say about our faith and our theology?

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 5-7, and today’s post is on 1 Samuel 7:8.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

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Bible Insights

There’s a Time to Wait and a Time to Act

Fear Causes Saul to Make a Bad Decision

Though God chose Saul to be the first king over Israel, Saul has some character flaws that lead to his undoing. One time the Philistines come up against Saul and his army.

Overwhelmed by the force opposing them, Saul’s men cower in fear.

Impatience and Fear

Samuel had told Saul to wait seven days. Then Samuel would come, offer the sacrifice, and seek God’s favor. Then Saul and his army could go into battle with confidence that God was with them.

Saul waits seven days as instructed. Samuel does not show up. Saul’s men began to desert. With dwindling numbers, Saul panics. He offers the burnt offering and fellowship offerings himself instead of waiting for Samuel.

He hopes this will keep him from losing any more men and prepare them for battle with God on their side.

Right when he finishes, Samuel shows up and chastises Saul. “It’s a foolish thing you did,” Samuel says. “You failed to keep God’s command.”

As a result, Samuel declares that Saul’s reign will not endure, that God will find someone else to take his place, a man after God’s own heart.

We later learned that David is that man.

Wait or Act?

When confronted with a dire situation, Saul had two choices. He could do as instructed and wait for Samuel, trusting God with the outcome.

Or he could take control of the situation and act, doing something he wasn’t supposed to do but which seemed necessary if he had any chance of success.

The logical choice was to act; the illogical choice was to wait. But God’s perspective is different than ours. Waiting would have been the right choice, while acting was the wrong choice.

Saul made the wrong choice and acted when he should’ve waited. It cost him his kingdom, his legacy, and ultimately his life.

Are we willing to trust God and wait when it seems we should act?

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 11-13, and today’s post is on 1 Samuel 13:7-15.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

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Bible Insights

Saul Squanders What God Gives Him

Even If God Sets Us Up for Success, We’ll Fail If We Don’t Obey Him

God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel, ask for a king. This isn’t what God wants, but he gives them what they request. He gives them a king.

At God’s direction, Samuel anoints Saul as king, appointing him ruler over God’s people and their nation.

To prove this is God’s doing, Samuel makes three prophetic promises to confirm that God’s hand is in this. They all happen.

The final one is that the Holy Spirit will empower Saul, and he will prophesy. Then God will change him into a different person, presumably a person ready to lead well and keep them focused on God.

The Holy Spirit does indeed come upon Saul, he prophesies, and his heart changes. Samuel presents Saul to the people with the confirmation that there is no one like him in the entire nation.

This means Saul is unique and equipped to be king, Israel’s first king (1 Samuel 10:1, 6, 9, 24).

God gives Saul a promising start. He’s poised to lead well. But despite God’s provision. Saul squanders what God gave him.

Instead of trusting God and instead of doing what Samuel—Saul’s spiritual guide—tells him to do, he worries and grows impatient.

He ignores Samuel’s instructions, and even worse, he disobeys God’s law.

And it only takes a few chapters in 1 Samuel for this to occur. Saul repeatedly shows he’s not the man God wants as king. By the time we get to chapter 15, God has enough of the disobedient king.

God tells Samuel, “I’m distressed I made Saul king.

He’s not following me anymore and doesn’t do what I say” (1 Samuel 15:10-11). Later Samuel confronts Saul and tells him that because he rejected God’s words, that God rejects him as king (1 Samuel 15:23).

Though Saul had a great start as king and was positioned to be a great one, his lack of trust in God and disobedience causes his downfall. Despite what God gave him, Saul squanders God’s favor and doesn’t finish well.

[Read through the Bible this year. Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 8-10, and today’s post is on 1 Samuel 10:1, 6, 9, 24.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.