Last Sunday, the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team lost to Japan in the World Cup Finals. The heavily favored U.S. team certainly had its chances to win, leading 1-0 and 2-1, but it squandered numerous opportunities to put the game away. After 120 minutes of grueling play, they lost in a nail biting 3-1 overtime shootout. This is a familiar story in sports: a team plays great and takes the lead in the first half, but they falter in the second half and suffer a crushing loss.

This is essentially the story of Solomon’s life! Solomon was the second son of King David and his favorite wife Bathsheba. He was raised in the royal palace and was raised with all the privileges of a king’s son. It appears that his mother had a larger influence on his life than his father, who he succeeded as king of Israel. He was only about 20 years old when he ascended to the throne and like his father, he served as king for 40 years.

During the first half of his reign, his heart was fully devoted to the Lord and he accomplished great feats for Israel, but during the second half, he turned his heart away from the Lord, worshipped idols, and watched his kingdom fracture before his death. Over all, Solomon served God with only half of his heart! Let’s see what we can learn from this half-hearted king!

Solomon Becomes King (I Kings 1-2)

When David had become old and his health was beginning to fail, he called for his wife Bathsheba and promised her that Solomon would be the next king over Israel. He also had the foresight to have Solomon publically anointed by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet so that the people of the kingdom would see and accept the transition of power.

While David lay on his deathbed, he gave Solomon some final instructions about how to rule the kingdom. In I Kings 2:1-4 he charged Solomon: “So be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’”

What David said to Solomon is still true for us today! If we want to prosper in everything we do and wherever we go, we must walk in his ways, keep his commands, and obey his Word. If we watch how we live and serve God faithfully with all of our hearts, he will bless us immensely. This is true for individuals, families, communities, and whole nations.

Is our country walking in his ways? Is our community keeping his commands? Are our families obeying his Word and watching how we live? Are you faithfully serving God with your whole heart?

Solomon’s Wisdom (I Kings 3-4)

Not long after Solomon became King of Israel, the Lord appeared to him during the middle of the night in a dream and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” (3:5) After thanking the Lord for his kindness, he humbly recognized the difficult and daunting duty of leading God’s people, the nation of Israel, so instead of asking for long life, wealth, or military power, he said, “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” (3:9) Therefore, God was pleased to bless Solomon with a wise and discerning heart and even the things that he didn’t ask for.

It is said that Solomon had a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on a seashore. His wisdom was greater than anyone in the world. Men of all nations came to listen to his wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom. (4:29-34)

With his incredible wisdom, Solomon also wrote the Ecclesiastes, a philosophical book about the meaning of life, most of Proverbs, a book about living a wise life, and the Song of Solomon, a book about human relationships and sexuality. Solomon used his God-given wisdom to honor the Lord!

This episode reminds me of the cartoons and movies where someone finds a magic lamp, rubs it, and a genie emerges from a cloud of smoke saying, “I will grant you three wishes.” I have never understood why the person doesn’t just ask for an infinite number of wishes, but I guess that wouldn’t make a very good story. Solomon already showed wisdom by asking God for wisdom!

If God appeared to you during the night and told you to ask him for anything, what would you ask for? Solomon asked for wisdom because he really cared to know the difference between right and wrong. I wonder how much we care about the difference between right and wrong!

Solomon’s Temple and Palace (I Kings 5-8)

It had always been David’s goal to build a proper temple in Jerusalem for worshipping the Lord, but because he was always engaged in war, he never had the opportunity. When the Lord blessed Solomon with an extended period of rest when there was no war or disaster in Israel, Solomon set his heart on fulfilling his dad’s dream of building a temple for the Lord.

So, Solomon put in an order with Hiram King of Tyre to receive timber from the famous cedar forests of Lebanon. It took 7 years to complete the all cedar Temple and it was adorned with gold throughout. It was a breathtaking sight to behold.

After he built the temple, he decided to go ahead and build a new palace for himself as well. This is where Solomon the wise made a foolish move: not that he built a new palace, but that his palace was larger, more elaborate, and it took 13 years to build.

Even though Solomon did a great thing by building the temple in Jerusalem, here is where we see him begin to follow in his father’s footsteps by allowing some pride, selfishness, and ego creep into his soul. It took him twice as long to build his house as it did the Lord’s house. His heart become more focused on himself than the Lord.

That is often the way it goes for us too! We can be going along with our lives doing well to honor God, and then all of the sudden a little bit of pride and selfishness creeps into our hearts. We may even be tempted to think, “Look at all I have done for God; now it is time to do something for me!” We must be careful not to allow anything to become more important to us than God! We must always remember that he is the one who deserves all the glory, not us!

Solomon’s Splendor (I Kings 9-10)

Once Solomon’s great architectural goals were accomplished, he turned his heart toward accumulating wealth. Not only did he receive extravagant gifts from foreign royalty who came to hear his wisdom and see his buildings, but he also became quite skilled in international trade. He received revenues from merchants and traders and all of the Arabian kings and governors of the land. (10:15) He accumulated articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, mules, livestock, chariots, and lumber. (10:25) It was said that while Solomon was on the throne, silver was as common as stones in Jerusalem. (10:27)

When Solomon fixed his heart on accumulating wealth, he took his focus off the Lord. By monetary standards, Solomon had become the Bill Gates of his time. He was the wealthiest man in the world. But by spiritual standards, his heart was forsaking the Lord. This led him toward idolatry, which would eventually tear his kingdom apart.

It is no coincidence that Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matt. 6:24) and the Apostle Paul said, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (I Tim. 6:10)

This is why accumulating wealth is so dangerous; it draws our hearts away from the Lord. Especially if you have ever owned your own business, you know that making money takes a lot of time and energy—time and energy that could be used to focus on the Lord. Money is one of the most prominent idols in America today.

Don’t let a desire for money or material possessions draw your heart away from the Lord! Don’t measure the success of your life by the size of your bank account or the things you own! Don’t fall into the trap of comparing your kingdom to other people’s kingdoms! Don’t make the same mistakes that Solomon made!

Solomon’s Wives (I Kings 11)

Well, Solomon had some issues with greed and selfishness, but it was his problems with women that pushed him toward outright idolatry. Look with me as I read I Kings 11:1-8! Solomon disobeyed God’s prohibition against marrying foreign women. It wasn’t that God had any problem with interracial marriage, but he had a problem with interfaith marriage because he knew that this almost always leads to idolatry.

Not only did Solomon break this command once by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter, but he broke it 1000 times. I Kings 11:3 tells us that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Can you imagine? Most men find it difficult to …well, never mind! Although the purpose of many of these marriages was to secure diplomatic relationships, increase the royal harem, and expand the splendor of the king, the text says that “he held fast to them in love.” (I Kings 11:2) It took 1000 women to satisfy his appetite for sex, money, and power, but it was precisely these appetites that destroyed his kingdom.

Just like God had warned, as Solomon grew old, his many wives turned his heart to other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God as the heart of David had been. (I Kings 11:4) David, amid all of his faults, loved God with his whole heart and never worshipped idols; Solomon only loved God with half of his heart!

God had been so gracious to Solomon. His great love for Solomon is seen in his given name “Jedidiah” which means “loved by the Lord.” He had graciously chosen him to succeed David as king even though he had older brothers who were in line for the throne. He blessed him with an easy and privileged early life in David’s court. He personally visited him twice, blessed him with divine wisdom, and gave him more wealth than he needed. He gave him political stability, military peace, and the resources to build a great house of worship. All of this should have created in Solomon a lifelong gratitude and devotion of the deepest kind, but it didn’t.

When we consider everything that God had done for Solomon, it seems impossible that he could have been so foolish to succumb to idolatry. Yet it happened, not over night, but slowly over the years. His pride, selfishness, ego, greed, lust, compelled him to erect a royal palace more glorious than God’s holy temple and take 700 wives in direct defiance to God’s command. He tried to build a kingdom for himself rather than the kingdom of God and he worshipped idols instead of the one true God.

When we consider everything God has done for us, it seems impossible that we could be so foolish to succumb to idolatry, but we do. For most of us, it doesn’t happen overnight, but it happens slowly over the years. Pride and selfishness creep into our souls. We become consumed with making money, accumulating possessions, or making a name for ourselves. We become discontent with the spouse we have and go looking for another. And then we wake up some morning and ask, “What happened to my relationship with God?

Like David last week, I hope we will all learn from Solomon’s mistakes. Use the wisdom God has given you! Be careful you don’t become consumed with the accumulation of wealth! Don’t crave power! Don’t be overcome by a desire for worldly success! Be careful who you marry! Avoid idolatry! And give God your whole heart, not just half!

How many of you have ever heard of Thomas Jefferson? Most of us know Jefferson as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, the third president of the United States of America, and one of the most influential organizers of our country. But did you know that most historians believe that Jefferson carried on an illicit relationship with one of his slaves and fathered six children by her? I guess he was a Founding Father of more than just our nation!

How many of you have heard of Martin Luther King Jr.? Most of us know King as a Baptist minister, activist, and the most prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. He led the March on Washington where he delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream Speech.” But did you know that King plagiarized most of his doctoral dissertation at Boston University and he cheated on his wife with multiple women? Dreams weren’t the only things King had in his bed!

How many of you have ever heard of John F. Kennedy? We know JFK as America’s 35th president. He won a Pulitzer Prize, founded the Peace Corps., and successfully led the U.S. through the precarious Cuban Missile Crisis before his assassination. But his philandering with beautiful women is well documented, especially his affair with Marylyn Monroe. Cuba wasn’t the only precarious situation JFK ever found himself in!

Great people throughout our nation’s history, and furthermore, throughout world history, have possessed serious character flaws. From Jezebel and Julius Caesar in ancient times to the latest scandal in Washington D.C., people have achieved incredible success in the public arena and yet have had remarkable failures in their private lives. The rise and fall of great leaders is a familiar story, and so it is with the people in the Bible.

Nowhere is this theme more pronounced than in the life of David. He had risen from a simple shepherd boy from the obscure rural village of Bethlehem to become Israel’s greatest king. In his early life he exhibited a humble heart, a courageous faith, and an undivided loyalty to God. Unfortunately, in his later life, he became an adulterer, a murderer, and his family became a royal mess. He had a glorious rise to the throne, but as we will see today, he also had a great fall from the throne.

Sometimes God uses the stories of people in the Bible to give us an example to follow. Other times, he uses stories to help us avoid the paths others have followed. As we consider David’s fall, I hope that we can learn from his mistakes and avoid them in our own lives.

Pride and Laziness (II Samuel 11:1)

The story of David’s downfall begins in II Samuel 11:1. Notice what it says—“In the spring, at the time when the kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.” It was springtime, the period after the winter rains when kings would reopen their military campaigns. For whatever reason, this year, when all of the other kings were fulfilling their responsibilities, David neglected his responsibility and stayed home. He sent his general Joab lead the army. I don’t know if he had became too proud or too lazy, but if David had been doing what he was supposed to be doing, he never would have seen what he saw and he never would have put himself in a compromising position.

Isn’t it amazing how the same thing happens in our lives? When we become proud in our hearts, we begin to slide down the slippery slope toward sin. Do you remember the old cliché “Pride comes before a fall?” When we smugly say to ourselves, “I would never do that!” or “I don’t need any help!” we make ourselves susceptible to all sorts of sins.

Likewise, when we neglect our God-given responsibilities and become lazy, it opens the door to trouble. Have you heard the old cliché “Idleness is the devil’s playground?” It is true! If Satan can get us to be bored with what we are supposed to be doing, he can introduce all sorts of ungodly adventure. How about the person who avoids work and winds up clicking onto a pornographic website? How about the person who spends endless hours on social networks and winds up getting into an inappropriate relationship?

By all accounts, David was doing well, but that is often when the enemies of pride and laziness strike. If we are really focused on what God wants us to be doing, we don’t even have enough time to fall into sin. The best defense against sin is being active for God!

Flirting with Temptation (II Samuel 11:2-4)

While David neglected his duty and stayed in Jerusalem, one evening he got up from a nap and took a stroll across the palace roof to feel the evening breeze. The palace roof was flat and was used like a porch. It was higher than all of the other buildings in Jerusalem and it provided a good view of the whole city. This particular evening though, the view was a little too good. As he gazed across the rooftops, his eyes were drawn to the house of Uriah the Hittite where the beautiful Bathsheba was bathing herself.

Now this is where David made his second mistake. He couldn’t help but notice her, but he made a conscious decision to keep staring at her. He should have turned around and walked the other way, but he didn’t. As he allowed his mind to dwell on her, his dwelling led an inquiry, inquiry turned into an invitation, and the invitation became adultery. He flirted with temptation too long, and he eventually gave in. Leonard Cohen put it this way:

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

How often do we do the same thing? We all face some sort of temptation: sexual temptation, emotional temptation, financial temptation, material temptations, etc.

Flirting with temptation can be fun! The excitement lasts for a while, but you always get burned in the end. Let us learn from David’s downfall! When you are tempted to do something wrong, run the other way. Get off the computer! Turn off the TV! Put the credit card away! Turn around before it is too late!

Abusing Authority (II Samuel 11:5-16)

Sin always has its consequences, and so it was for David! After one night of forbidden passion with Bathsheba, she soon sent word that she was pregnant. Now David was really in a bind! What was he to do? If news of this spread, he could have lost his kingdom. So, he devised a master plan to cover it up, but he would have to abuse his authority as king. He thought, “If I send for her husband to return home and give me a report of how the war is going, he will surely sleep with his wife and it will look like he got her pregnant, and no one will ever know.”

So, David summoned Bathsheba’s husband Uriah the Hittite, wined and dined him, and sent him to his wife two nights in a row. But Uriah was a man of noble character and he reasoned, “How could I go to my house and eat and drink and lay with my wife when all of my comrades are still camped on the battlefield.”

When David’s plan backfired, he became so angry that he wrote a letter to Joab, telling him to put Uriah on the front line where fighting was fiercest and where he would have the greatest chance of death. Poor Uriah had no idea that he was carrying his own death warrant. He was the innocent victim of a king abusing his power. David stole his wife and then took his life. Now David wasn’t just an adulterer, but he was also a murderer.

When we are in positions of authority, we must be very careful how we use our power. Unfortunately, positions of authority are often accompanied by puffed-up egos. When we have a little bit of control, it is easy to feel like we control everything. We think we can do anything we want. Just look at how many political scandals we have seen in recent years—Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others! These are all cases of big ego and abuse of authority!

Before David became king, he had a humble heart toward God and people, but when he became king, he let the power go to his head. If you are in a position of authority, be very careful how you use your power with people who are under you. Don’t let power go to your head! Remember that your position is a gift from God!

Forgetting God’s Omniscience

David’s final mistake in II Samuel 11 is found in the very last sentence of the chapter. It says, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” Even though David covered up the scandal from everyone else in the kingdom, he couldn’t hide his sins from God. He forgot God’s omniscience—that is his attribute of knowing everything.

The author of II Samuel included this line to help us remember what David forgot. We must always remember that God sees everything, even when no one else does. Whether we sin with our hands, eyes, our mouths, or in the hidden recesses of our minds, he knows.

How many of you have ever done something wrong and didn’t get caught? It is exciting for a while, but then you have to work to keep the secret hidden. Even if no one else knows, you always have to live with that knowledge that God knows!

When I was a youth, my friend Barry and I stole hundreds of dollars of merchandise from Hoover’s Market, the general store in my hometown. He and I stole everything from candy bars and bubble gum to cigarettes and chewing tobacco while the owners were in the store. Over the years we watched many of our friends get caught and turned in for shoplifting, but Barry and figured out a way to avoid getting caught and we bragged about it all the time.

By the time I turned nineteen, the market had gone out of business, I had become a Christian, and I was home on summer break from Bible College. The first Sunday morning I walked into church, who was sitting in the pew right in front of me? Mrs. Hoover! Guilt flooded my heart and I knew that I had to confess my sin to her. It was God’s way of telling me, “I know what you did!”

Consequences of Sin

Well, as I have already said, “Sin has consequences!” so let me summarize the consequences of David’s sin. Almost nine months after this, Bathsheba gave birth to a son, but because of David’s sin, God decided to take the child. The child only lived for six days, and on the seventh, he rested. David wept and mourned over the loss of that child!

Also, David went on to have some serious problems with his family. All in all, David wound up having eight different wives and over twenty children. His oldest son Amnon raped his half sister Tamar, and when his son Absalom heard about what Amnon did to Tamar, he murdered Amnon. Later, Absalom led a rebellion against his father and David spent years of his life running from his son. Eventually, Absalom was assassinated and David wept and mourned over the loss of that son too. David’s family was a royal mess—and it all started with his sin.

David’s rise to kingship was marked by his humble heart, courageous faith, and undivided loyalty to God. His fall from kingship was marred by the mistakes of pride, laziness, flirting with temptation, abusing authority, and forgetting God’s omniscience. I hope that we will model David’s qualities and avoid his mistakes!

Like many other great leaders throughout history, David wasn’t perfect. There has only been one leader who has ever lived a perfect life, and we nailed him to a cross. But here is what separates David from many others—he truly repented from his sin. He confessed it to God, asked for forgiveness, and worked hard not to make the same mistake a second time. We can read his prayer of repentance in Psalm 51!

Have you truly repented from your sin? Do you have some secret sin hidden deep in your heart? He already knows about it! Confess it to God! Ask for his forgiveness! Learn from it! Don’t do repeat it! And finally, receive God’s grace through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ, David’s descendant!

The story of David begins in the little farming village of Bethlehem. His ancestry in that town went at least went back to his great grandparents Boaz and Ruth, and his father Jesse raised all eight of his sons and his two daughters there. Being the youngest of eight boys isn’t easy, especially when you are the best looking of the bunch. Just out of curiosity, how many of you are the best looking in your family?

As the youngest, David got stuck with the dirty and undesirable job of tending the sheep, but he made the best out of it. He became so skilled in the use a shepherd’s sling that he even killed a lion and a bear while defending the sheep. And while he spent long days and endless nights watching over the pastures, he also learned how to play the harp and he composed beautiful songs of praise to God. David wrote at least 73 of the Psalms that are in the Bible. I picture David composing the 23rd Psalm while he was keeping watch over his flocks by night.

David is one of those larger than life people in the Bible. He rose from being a simple shepherd boy from an obscure rural village to become the greatest king in Israel’s history. His name is mentioned over a thousand times in the Bible and his story encompasses the biblical books of I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, I & II Chronicles, and is repeatedly referred to throughout the New Testament.

Since it is almost impossible to condense David’s story in one sermon, I have decided to do it in two. Today we will focus on the beginning of David’s life—The Rise of a King. Next week we will look at the end of David’s life—The Fall of a King. It is difficult to even tell the beginning of David’s life in one sermon, so I would like to summarize it by highlighting three aspects of his character—his humble heart, his courageous faith, and his undivided loyalty.

A Humble Heart for God (I Samuel 16)

Saul had failed miserably as Israel’s first king and the old prophet Samuel had been moping and mourning about it for a long time when the Lord came to him and said, “Get up! Fill your horn with oil! Go to Jesse of Bethlehem, I have chosen one of his sons to be the new king.” Even though he was terrified that Saul would find out about him anointing a new king and kill him, he obeyed the Lord and journeyed to Bethlehem.

When he got to Jesse’s house and saw his eldest son Eliab’s tall broad shoulders, muscular arms, and rugged face, he immediately concluded, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands in front of me”, for he had the look of a king. But the Lord was about to teach the old prophet a new lesson about divine perspective. The Lord said to him, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Then, one by one, each of Jesse’s sons passed before Samuel, but the Lord did not choose any of them. After all of the sons came through the procession, Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all of the sons you have?” Jesse said, “Ugh…well… there is still the youngest, but he is out tending the sheep.” Samuel told Jesse to send for him and he would wait until he arrived.

When David walked through the door, Samuel was dazed and confused. David was just a boy. He had a light complexion, maybe a tint of red in his hair, and he had handsome features. The literal Hebrew says that he had “pretty eyes.” We value these features today, but in that time and culture, his looks went contrary to the appearance of a king. He looked more like a pretty-boy model than he did a warrior-king. If I wanted someone to fight for me, I’d look for someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger, not Tom Cruise. But in spite of David’s looks, Samuel heard God’s voice, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” God chose David because of humble heart!

This whole scene paints a picture of David’s humble heart before God. We see humility in David’s age, appearance, and occupation. To the human eye, there was nothing about him that would make him a desirable king, but remember what God said to Samuel—Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. We don’t see David bursting into the house, raising his hands, and chanting “Pick me! Pick me!” He humbly went about tending the sheep and singing praise songs to God.

God certainly hit the nail on the head when he said, “Man looks at the outward appearance…” Three-thousand years later, we still live in a culture that worships ego and outward appearance. In America, we are consumed with ourselves and the way we look. Whether we like it or not, everyone in the United States participates in a daily beauty pageant. Engulfed by a popular culture saturated with images of idealized, air-brushed, and unattainable physical beauty, people cannot escape feeling judged on the basis of their outward appearance. Americans spend a total of $7 billion per year on cosmetics alone, not to mention cosmetic surgery. I wonder what would happen if our nation spent that much on our souls instead of our bodies!

God is concerned about our hearts! He is not impressed by how pretty or strong you are! He is not awed by how much money you make or what kind of car you drive! Having a humble heart for God is about being satisfied with what God has given us! Having a humble heart for God is about faithfully serving him without looking for recognition. Having a humble heart for God is about simply doing what God wants us to do and giving him the glory for everything. How humble is your heart?

A Courageous Faith (I Samuel 17)

After David was anointed by Samuel, a few years went by and David continued to tend his father’s sheep. In the meantime, another conflict flared up between the Israelites and Philistines and they were preparing for battle in the Valley of Elah. The Philistines had a champion named Goliath, a man of unparalleled size and strength. With the sun glaring off his bronze helmet, his 125lb. scale armor, and javelin on his back, he imposed terror upon anyone who gazed at him. The tip of his spear alone weighed 15lbs. Every day he would march to the front line and challenge the Israelite army to choose a man to face him. (In those days, it was common for whole battles to be decided by a clash between two champions.) No one in the whole Israelite army had the courage to face him; not even King Saul who stood a head taller than everyone else.

During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. “You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?” “Who said that?” roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, “Now you know why.”

Fear paralyzes people! Thus was the case for Saul and the Israelites. They were so consumed with the gigantic problem standing in front of them that they took their eyes off the Lord. When we take our eyes off the Lord, our problems can consume us and we can be overcome by fear. Do you ever find yourself in that place?

Well, Jesse asked David to take some food to his three older brothers who were serving in the Israelite army. David, who was always willing to serve, left early in the morning and took some bread and cheese to his brothers. As he found his brothers and began talking with them, Goliath came forth and shouted his usual defiance against Israel.

David was appalled by what he saw and heard. He said, “Who is this Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” When he understood everything that was happening, he showed his courageous faith in God and said to King Saul, “I will go and fight him!” Armed with only a shepherd’s staff, five smooth stones from the stream, and a sling in his hand, David defied Goliath by saying, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty…this day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.” And with his courageous faith in God, it all happened just as David said! And the Philistine army

David knew that he could not defeat the enemy by himself. He knew he was outmatched, but he did not trust in his own abilities, instincts, or weapons. He put his faith in the power of the living Lord. He had a courageous faith, a fearless faith!

I know that many of us who are here this morning have things that cause us fear. We don’t have giants with javelins standing in front of us, but sometimes we do face gigantic problems: health problems, relationship problems, financial problems, etc. Like the Israelite army, when our eyes are not focused on the Lord, it is no wonder we are so scared. But when we put our faith in the power of the living Lord, he will give us the courage we need. When we stop trusting in ourselves, it is amazing what God will do!

An Undivided Loyalty (I Samuel 18-26)

After David killed Goliath, Saul gave him a high rank in the Israelite army and his fame grew. David had success in everything he did because the Lord was with him. When they returned home from battle, a victory parade filled the streets of Jerusalem with singing and dancing. One of the refrains heard over and over again that day was “Saul has killed his thousands and David his tens of thousands”, and jealousy crept into Saul’s heart.

Saul was afraid that David was going to take his throne. Even though he still had the crown, David had the hearts of the people. Saul knew that he had to get rid of David, so he tried to murder him multiple times in multiple ways. On one occasion, while David was playing his harp for Saul, Saul rushed upon him with a spear but he missed twice. On two other occasions, Saul tried to set David up by promising him marriage to his daughters Mereb and Michal. He sent David into battle to win Michal’s hand, hoping that he would be killed by the Philistines. When this plan was foiled, Saul tried to get his son Jonathan, David’s best friend to kill him. He tried to get his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to hand him over. And he commanded his military officers to assassinate David. But all of these attempts failed because the Lord was with David.

What is truly amazing about this story is how David remained loyal to Saul, even when Saul was trying to kill him. David had two golden opportunities to kill Saul, but he refused. In I Samuel 24, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself and he did not know that David was already in the cave. David caught him with his pants down, but only cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.

Let me ask you a question, would you remain loyal to someone who repeatedly tried to kill you? We may ask the question, “Why was David loyal to Saul?” David’s own words in I Samuel 24:6—“The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” David remained loyal to Saul because he had an undivided loyalty to God!

How about you? Do you have an undivided loyalty to the Lord? Like David, our loyalty to God is often tested by the opportunities that come our way. Sometimes we are forced to decide between taking a better job or spending more time with our family. Sometimes we are forced to decide whether to work overtime, play a sport, or worship God on Sunday mornings. Sometimes we must decide whether to be loyal to someone we don’t like, or to through them under the bus. (Politics anyone? Family anyone? Church anyone?) Sometimes we may see an opportunity for advancement and success, but we also see how many people it will hurt. What will you decide?

In David’s rise to kingship, we clearly see his humble heart for God, his courageous faith in God, and his undivided loyalty to God. David’s rise to kingship reminds me of another king. This king was also born in the humble farming village of Bethlehem. Like David, there wasn’t anything about his outwardly appearance that would resemble a great king, but he also had a humble heart, a courageous faith, and an undivided loyalty to God. His humble heart was seen in him becoming a man and being born in human flesh. His courageous faith allowed him win the victory over Satan’s power. And his undivided loyalty led him straight to the cross where he suffered and died for our sins.

Who is this king you ask? It is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! It is our Lord Jesus Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah, descended from the line of David, one who rose from obscurity and became not only the King of the Jews, but the King of the World! May we have a humble heart, a courageous faith, and an undivided loyalty to the King of Kings!

Samuel’s Birth and Childhood (Ch. 1)

We often wonder about the childhoods of great people. We have very little information about the early years of most of the people mentioned in the Bible. One delightful exception is Samuel; he came as a result of Hannah’s fervent prayer for a child. In fact, the name “Samuel” comes from the Hebrew expression that means “heard of God.” Samuel was born as a result of God hearing and answering Hannah’s prayer for a son.

Hannah nursed and cared of Samuel for the first three years of his life, and then she fulfilled the vow that she made to God by dedicating him into the Lord’s service. So, she took the boy to the temple in Shiloh and did the difficult deed of leaving him to be raised by Eli the priest. From that moment on, she only saw Samuel once a year when she went up to the temple to worship God and offer sacrifices. Each year she made him a little robe and took it to him.

Eli loved the boy like his own son, and even though Samuel could not officially become a priest because he did not descend from the tribe of Levi, he studied the Scriptures and learned all of the ministries of a priest. God gave him this ministerial training when he was young because he was preparing him for the ministry of a judge, prophet, and leader of the whole nation of Israel. I Samuel 2:26 tells us that during his childhood and adolescent years, the boy Samuel “grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and men.” This verse is remarkably similar to the statement made about our Lord Jesus Christ after he was dedicated at the temple. Luke 2:52 says—“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

This scene in Samuel’s early life set the precedent for dedicating our children to the Lord today. Now the Bible doesn’t tell parents that they must have a special dedication ceremony their children, nor does it imply that parents are bad if they don’t. But I can’t think of any good reasons not to come before the church community and promise to raise the child to fear and love God and ask God to use the child for his glory. What Christian parent doesn’t want their child to grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men? If you are a parent of a young child, I urge you to consider following in Samuel and Jesus’ footsteps!

This scene also shows us the importance of children serving the Lord. From the time that Samuel was three years old, he was learning how to serve God by ministering to people. So often, we think “ministry” is something just for adults, but that is not true. You can study the Scriptures and serve the Lord regardless of age. Like Samuel, you never know how God will use your early experience in ministry to shape your future!

The Collapse of the Priesthood (Ch. 2 & 4)

During the years that Samuel was growing up, there was some shady business going on in the temple. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were preparing to take over the priesthood for their elderly father after he died. They both wore the robes of a priest, but they were corrupt to the core. They were using their position for personal gain by stealing from the temple sacrifices and offerings. Whenever someone would sacrifice an animal to the Lord, instead of burning it like they were supposed to, they would stick their fork in the pot, and whatever came out, they ate for themselves. It would be the equivalent of a pastor or priest today taking the offering plates, and when no one is looking, playing a little game called, “One for God, one for me!” Even though they were priests, they treated God’s offerings with contempt and showed that they had no heart for the Lord.

Hophni and Phinehas were not only stealing from God, but they were also sleeping with the women who served at the entrance of the temple. It was bad enough that these priests, who were supposed to live holy lives before the Lord, were engaging in sexual immorality, but it was even worse because they were taking advantage of women who were working for God. They were phonies, fakes, and frauds! They were hypocrites of the highest degree. They were wicked and despicable in the eyes of God and the people of Israel.

Now when the old man found out about his boy’s deplorable deeds, he confronted and rebuked them, but the boys refused to listen to their father’s rebuke and they continued in their wicked ways. Then Eli made the same mistake that many parents make today—he put his kids before the Lord. He turned a blind eye to his boy’s sins and did not discipline them. He continued to allow them to practice as priests and pretended like he didn’t know what they were doing. He honored them more than he honored the Lord!

I don’t know if you have ever noticed this in the Bible, but God doesn’t have much tolerance for hypocrisy. God told Eli that he was going to destroy him and his sons for their wickedness. Their lives would be cut short because of their grievous sin, and he pronounced a curse upon Eli’s family that no one would live long. Everyone in his family would die in the prime of their life.

I don’t think we can read this story about Eli and his sons today without thinking about the priest scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church in recent years. It is bad enough that priests and ministers have stolen from the church and have committed unmentionable sins against children, but it is even worse that bishops knew about it and did nothing. Nothing has changed in 3000 years. Wickedness and hypocrisy are still rampant in the church today.

There is something else that hasn’t changed in 3000 years—God’s intolerance for hypocrisy! A day of judgment is coming for everyone who steals from God, commits sexual immorality, takes advantage of children, defrauds his servants, and tries to cover up their own sin or someone else’s! Even when we think our sin is covered up, God always sees it! Don’t fall into the whole of hypocrisy!

We are meant to read this story of Eli’s sons in contrast to Samuel. All three of these boys were raised in the same house by the same parents, but they could not have turned out more differently. While Hophni and Phinehas abused the position and power that God gave them, Samuel continued to grow closer to the Lord and served people with his whole heart. The contrast is clear. Samuel was sincere; Eli’s sons were sinister! Samuel lived a holy life; Eli’s sons lived a hypocritical life! Samuel had a heart for God; Eli’s sons had a heart for themselves.

This story forces us to make a decision today? Who are we going to model our lives after? Eli’s sons, who served themselves and had no regard for the Lord? Or Samuel, who served the people and grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and men?

Also, parents, take note of Eli’s mistakes. God punished him for not taking his son’s sin seriously. When we refuse to discipline our children and overlook their sins, God holds us responsible! When we ignore or try to cover up our kids’ mistakes, I fear that we are following in Eli’s footsteps. As parents, we have to ask ourselves the question all the time: Who am I going to honor more, God or my kids?

The Calling of Samuel (Ch. 3)

Well, by the time that Samuel had become a teenager he had learned quite a bit about ministry, and God was about to officially call him to a life of ministry. He served in a spiritually dry time in Israel; in fact, the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There weren’t very many people having revelations or visions from the Lord. That is why Samuel was so surprised when God spoke to him.

One night when Samuel was fast asleep, he awoke to someone calling his name “Samuel! Samuel!” He thought it was Eli, so he went to him and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to sleep.” This happened three times. Now how many of you have ever been woken up in the middle of the night by a caller with the wrong number? How would you feel if it happened three times? Well, now you know how Eli felt!

Eventually, Eli realized that God was calling the boy, so he told him to say “Speak, for your servant is listening” the next time this happened. So, God called Samuel to be a preacher and gave him the content for his first sermon. If you are going to be a preacher, sometimes you have to peach some things that people don’t want to hear. God told Samuel to tell Eli that he was going to judge him and his family for their sins and hypocrisy. Wow! What a message to preach for your first sermon!

When Samuel woke up the next morning, he was scared to death to preach this message to Eli. Eli had been like a father to him for over ten years and now he had to tell him that God was going to judge him. As it turned out, Eli asked Samuel what the Lord had said to him. So, Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him.

This scene shows us that Samuel had the ears to hear God’s call and had the courage to follow God’s plan for his life. Although it took three times for Samuel to figure out that it was God who was speaking to him because God’s word was so rare in those days, he eventually got the message.

This sort of makes me wonder: How we would respond if God spoke to us in a similar way today? Would we think that we are just hearing things or would we recognize his voice? The truth is that God is calling us all the time. Sometimes he speaks to us in an audible voice, sometimes he speaks to us through dreams and visions, sometimes he speaks to us through the Bible, sometimes he speaks to us through prayer, and sometimes he speaks to us through other people or the events of our lives. The question isn’t, “Is God speaking?” The question is, “Are we listening?”

There is a certain fear that comes with hearing God’s call. Sometimes we don’t like what he has to say or we don’t want to do what he tells us to do. Sometimes God wants us to do things that are hard. Do you think it was easy for Samuel to tell Eli that God was going to judge him? I don’t think so!

Likewise, sometimes God wants us to preach an unpopular message or to tell someone something they don’t want to hear. Sometimes God wants us to give up something that we don’t want to give up. Sometimes God wants us to change something we don’t want to change. When you hear God’s call, will you have the courage to obey?

Samuel’s Ministry (Ch. 7-16)

God used Samuel’s miraculous birth, ministerial training under Levi, and this dramatic calling experience to prepare him for his ultimate destiny of becoming one of Israel’s greatest leaders, preachers, and judges. I Samuel 7-16 tells the story of how God used Samuel to lead the Israelites into repentance for their sins, a return to worshipping the one true God, a deliverance from Philistine oppression, and a transition from a loosely governed federation tribes to a unified monarchy under one king.

God used Samuel to select and anoint Saul, Israel’s first king, and he used him to select and anoint David, Israel’s second king, after Saul didn’t work out. Even after the monarchy was established, Samuel continued to preach God’s word and be the moral conscience of Israel. Against the backdrop of a myriad of scoundrels and screwballs, Samuel stands out as one of the Bible’s few bright spots.

Most of the characters in the Old Testament show us how God uses people in spite of their sin, but in Samuel we find a rare model in which we should pattern our own lives. Samuel was dedicated to God from an early age. He took God seriously as a young man. He had ears to hear God’s voice and the courage to obey his call. He served the Lord with the best years of his life. And he remained dedicated to the Lord until his death.

Samuel is a good model to follow! How are you doing?

Everybody loves a romance! From literature classics like Romeo and Juliette to the cheap smutty paperback novels…from epic films like Gone with the Wind to the latest cheesy chick-flick…from the mightiest of men to the weepiest of women… everybody loves a romance story!

The Bible has its own version of a romance story.

Boaz: Israel’s Most Eligible Bachelor

Let me introduce to you the lead male role in this providential romance! His name is Boaz, and he was the most eligible bachelor in the whole village of Bethlehem (probably in all of Israel). He had everything going for him. He was a descendant from the prominent tribe of Judah. He was a successful farmer and businessman. He was well educated and very wealthy (probably the greatest land holder in the area). Not only that, but he was a man who exhibited deep faith in God, integrity in his character, and a rare combination of justice and mercy in his actions. He had an impeccable reputation with all of his employees and the town officials in Bethlehem. He showed charity to everyone and he was cherished by everyone.

Boaz was the kind of man that young women dream about. He was the type of man that fathers approve and mothers adore. He was the type that would make a good husband and father. Most women would have snatched him up if they could. If Boaz was alive today, he could have gone on TV show “The Bachelor” and had given his final rose to anyone he chose. But for some unknown reason, Boaz was hadn’t had the good fortune to marry or start his own family. So, he focused his life on God and being a good farmer and businessman. But God’s providence was about to change that!

Ruth: Israel’s Least Desirable Widow (1:3-22)

Now that we have met Boaz, allow me to introduce to you the leading female role in this providential romance. Her name is Ruth and she was the least desirable widow in the whole village of Bethlehem (probably in all of Israel). She had virtually nothing going for her. First, she was a foreigner. She was a Moabite from the wrong side of the Jordan River. The Moabites were fierce rivals of the Israelites and they despised each other. They worshipped many gods lead by the god Chemosh instead of Yahweh, the one true God of the universe. Secondly, she was a widow. She had already been married to an Israelite refugee for a few years back in Moab. In those days, nobody wanted to marry a widow. She was viewed as damaged goods. Moreover, because she had already been married to an Israelite that died, she may have been viewed as suspicious.

In addition to being a Moabite widow, she would have been undesirable because she was poor. She had come to Bethlehem with only her mother-in-law Naomi. Without husbands to take care of them or property of their own, they had to rely upon the generosity of others to make it. Without a family or dowry of her own, nobody would have wanted anything to do with Ruth.

Although she had incredible physical beauty, impeccable character like Boaz, and she exhibited a deep faith in God by coming to Israel with Naomi, the deck was stacked against her for ever finding romance or marrying again. But God’s providence was about to change that!

A Providential Meeting (2:1-16)

Now that you have met the main characters in this providential romance, let me tell you the story of how Ruth and Boaz met. Every romance has to have a scene when the beloved meet for the first time. Ruth and Boaz met during the time of year when the barley harvest was just beginning in Israel. All of the farmers and their workers were busy cutting and gathering sheaves in the field (remember these were the old days before choppers and tractors). One day, Boaz returned home from a business trip and went to his fields to survey the progress of his operation. We see his deep faith in the way he greeted his employees. He shouted the blessing, “The Lord be with you!” They all yelled back, “The Lord bless you!”

As his eyes gazed across the grain fields, he noticed a young woman among the harvesters. He knew that he had never seen her before because he would have remembered a woman of such great physical beauty. So, he did what any man in his situation would do—he did his homework on her. He went to his foreman and asked him, “Whose young woman is that?”

By this time, everyone in town knew who Ruth was and why she was there. The foreman proceeded to tell Boaz about her—that she was a Moabite who came back to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law Naomi. Being a poor widow with no means to care for Naomi or herself, she had asked permission to glean grain behind the harvesters and that she had worked steadily all day with only one short break. In spite of learning that she was a Moabite widow, upon seeing her beauty and hearing about her character, Israel’s most eligible bachelor became interested in Israel’s least desirable widow.

Boaz immediately went out into the field to meet Ruth for himself. He offered her special protection by telling her to stay among his servant girls and not to go to any other fields. He told his male employees not to lay a hand on her. (Being an attractive foreign widow made her vulnerable to sexual harassment and even rape.) He also provided for her by offering her water throughout the work day, food at mealtimes, and gave his men special orders to pull some stocks from the bundles to make her work easier.

We see God’s hand of providence divinely orchestrating this meeting in Ruth 2:3—“As it turned out” is the author’s way of telling us that Ruth and Boaz meeting didn’t happen by chance or coincidence; rather, God put both of them in the same place at the same time. Ruth could have gone to any other field in Bethlehem, but she ventured into Boaz’s. If Boaz didn’t come to greet his workers that day, he may never have seen Ruth gleaning in the field. Their meeting that day was providential.

It is always amazing to think about how God’s providence works in our lives today! Have you ever wondered how your life would be completely different if you hadn’t been in the right place at the right time? You may never have met your spouse! You may not have your kids! You may not have your job! And a host of other things would be entirely different. Do you think the events of your life happened by chance? Forget about it! God works behind the scenes and orders the events of our lives as well!

A Providential Relationship (2:17-3:18)

Well, Ruth and Boaz’s providential meeting grew into a providential relationship. When Ruth told Naomi everything that Boaz did for her, Naomi began to devise a plan. We might call Naomi a “meddling mother-in-law.” Does anyone here today have a meddling mother-in-law?

Naomi informed Ruth that Boaz was a relative of theirs, a kinsman-redeemer to be precise. A kinsman-redeemer was a male relative who, according to various laws found in the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to act for a relative who was in trouble, danger, or need of vindication. He typically had the responsibility of redeeming property and taking on a relative’s widow to care for her needs. Isn’t that interesting? Boaz just happened to be one of their kinsman redeemers!

So, Naomi instructed Ruth to take a bath, put on her best clothes, dab on a little perfume, and go to the threshing floor at night and uncover Boaz’s feet. The threshing floor was a plateau where they would lay the stocks of grain on the ground and beat out the kernels and the chaff would be thrown up into the air and blown away by the wind. The stocks were cut during the day and the grain was threshed in the evening. During the harvest season, most of the workers slept on the threshing floor. We see Boaz’s humility in the fact that even though he was wealthy and prominent, he slept on the threshing floor with his employees.

Ladies, if someone has ever told you that the man has to make the first move in a romance, they mustn’t have ever read the book of Ruth. Ruth’s action of going to Boaz in the middle of the night and uncovering his feet, was a provocative way of proposing marriage. When Boaz woke up and saw Ruth lying at his feet, he basically said, “I do!”

God uses all sorts of people in his providential plans. He uses meddling mother-in-laws, website matchmakers, and a host of others. For just minute, think about the various people that God has brought into your life and has used in profound ways! Do you think that they just showed up by accident? God put that person there!

A Providential Marriage (4:1-12)

After Ruth declared her love and desire for marriage on the threshing floor, Boaz knew that there was one hurdle that he had to jump over. Even though he was one of their kinsman-redeemers, there was one man who was a closer kinsman-redeemer, and it was his prerogative to purchase Naomi’s land and marry Ruth. So, the very next morning Boaz went to the elders of the town to strike a deal. As he discussed the situation with the kinsman-redeemer that was first in line for Naomi’s land and Ruth’s hand, Boaz used some shrewd words. Even though the man was interested in Naomi’s property, he wasn’t interested in taking on two more mouths to feed, especially if it meant marrying a widow from Moab.

So, the man relinquished his responsibility to Boaz, and Boaz quickly chose to redeem. He sealed the deal in the presence of the town elders. Instead of a handshake or a signature, he took off his sandal and gave it to the other kinsman, which was the custom for transacting business at the time.

Once everything was in place, Boaz took Ruth to be his wife and she and Naomi went to live with him. God was working behind the scenes of all of their lives. It was his divine providence that orchestrated this romance and marriage of Israel’s most eligible bachelor and Israel’s least desirable widow. God used Boaz to redeem Ruth and Naomi from a difficult and bitter situation. He filled their emptiness with hope and joy.

A Providential Genealogy (4:12-22)

But God’s plan for this providential romance was much larger than just one eligible bachelor and one undesirable widow. In due time, Boaz lay with his wife Ruth and she conceived and gave birth to a son and they named him Obed. Now that name may not stand out to you as being very important, but look at the genealogy at the end of chapter 4—Obed became the father of Jessie, and Jesse was the father of David, Israel’s greatest king.

In God’s providential plan, he used Ruth and Boaz to be the grandparents of King David and establish an incredible heritage that would eventually be used to bless the whole world throughout the rest of history. How is this? Do you know what line the Messiah was from? That is right, our Lord Jesus Christ came from the line of David. Boaz and Ruth were Jesus’ great great…grandparents.

Like Ruth and Boaz, we often don’t understand of the significance of the people whom God brings into our lives or the events that we endure until much later. Ruth and Boaz had no idea that God was going to use them as an integral part of his plan to bring redemption to the whole world.

You may not feel like your life is very significant, but God’s plans go far beyond anything that we can imagine. In his providence, you never know how he is going to use your life to benefit others!

As I conclude this story of Ruth and Boaz’s providential romance, I need to tell you that this story is a romance within a romance. This story is only a microcosm of the greatest romance ever told. You see, Boaz foreshadows our Lord Jesus Christ, while we play the part of Ruth. Boaz represents Jesus, whose character was perfect in every way and who humbled himself by becoming a man and dying for our sins on the cross. He is our kinsman redeemer! We play the part of Ruth. Because we are sinful, we are undesirable, damaged goods, but in his providence, God redeemed us and he can take away out emptiness and bitterness and fill it with hope and joy.

Where are you in God’s providential romance?

In the fall of 2004, ABC launched its hit television series Desperate Housewives. The show, part comedy and part drama, follows the lives of a group of housewives, seen through the eyes of their dead neighbor. They work through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their—at the surface—beautiful and seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood.

In more recent years, the show’s incredible popularity has spawned a number of spinoff reality shows called “The Real Housewives of …well…take your pick…Orange County, Miami, New York, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, Atlanta, and even Wall Street. Thankfully, I have never watched a single episode of any of these shows, but I have seen their advertisements. They seem to have just a little too much matriarchal drama for this pastor’s taste!

Well, this morning’s Bible character was a real and desperate housewife. We know virtually nothing about Hannah’s origin or early life. We only meet her when she is already married to a man named Elkanah, an Ephraimite from the town of Ramathaim, and even then, we don’t know how old she was, how long she had been married, or what she was like. The only other thing that the biblical text tells us about her was that she had some problems—problems that made her desperate!

Hannah’s Problems (1-8)

The opening verses of I Samuel reveal some of the problems that made Hannah such a desperate housewife. In verse 2 we learn that Hannah was childless. Although the ultimate reason why she couldn’t conceive was because God closed her womb, it must have been viewed as some physical problem that prevented her from experiencing a mother’s joy. This physical problem caused her deep emotional pain and grief. Can you imagine trying to have a child year after year, and yet, every time you look at the pregnancy test it is negative? She probably kept asking herself, “What is wrong with me?”

Sometimes spiritual problems lead to physical problems, but in this story, Hannah’s physical problem led to her spiritual problem. In ancient Jewish culture, if a woman could not conceive, it was often understood to be a curse or punishment from God. She would have been considered a disgrace to her husband and the people from her town would have wondered and gossiped about what she did to deserve such a fate. Even though Hannah appeared to have a devout faith, God had not blessed her with a child.

Hannah not only had physical and spiritual problems, she also had relationship problems. Her husband had another wife named Peninnah, and she was able to have children. The text doesn’t tell us for sure, but Elkanah probably took a second wife because Hannah was unable to bear children.

Now two women sharing one man typically has its share of relationship problems anyway, but this relationship was complicated further by the fact that even though Peninnah was a virtual baby factory, Elkanah still loved Hannah more. They each had what the other wanted—Hannah wanted children; Peninnah wanted love. This led to a serious bout of matrimonial rivalry. Over the years, Peninnah took every opportunity to provoke and irritate Hannah. With every child she bore, she rubbed it in Hannah’s face, even when they were on their way to worship God at the temple in Shiloh.

To make matters even worse, when Elkanah would saw Hanna crying, he gave the typical male response in verse 8, “Why are you crying? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” His intentions were good, but he was just another blundering husband that didn’t understand women!

You can certainly see the complexity and severity of Hanna’s problems. This housewife had real problems! And they made her desperate!

Do you ever have problems that make you feel desperate? Maybe you have struggled with infertility or some other physical problem. Maybe you know that there is something wrong with your body, but neither you nor your doctor can figure out what it is. Maybe you have been rehabilitating an injury for a long time, but it doesn’t seem like therapy is helping. Like Hannah, our physical problems are real, and they can make us feel desperate.

Perhaps your health is fine, but you are experiencing relationship problems. Maybe you have an unresolved conflict with your spouse, your boyfriend or girlfriend, a family member, a co-worker, or even a fellow church member. Have you hurt or been hurt by someone? As with Hannah, relationship problems can cause deep emotional pain; where tears replace your appetite.

Whether your problems are physical, relational, spiritual, or emotional, or something else, the fact is we all have real problems and sometimes they make us feel desperate! What is your biggest problem right now? And more importantly, what should we do about it? Well, let’s see what Hannah did about her problems!

Hannah’s Prayer (9-20)

Hannah’s heart was so distraught that she couldn’t eat anything, so she got up from the dinner table and walked over to the Lord’s temple. Out of her great distress and bitterness of soul, she poured her heart out to the Lord in prayer. We see the passion of her prayer in her tears, the faith of her prayer in addressing God as (Yahweh Zuba)“the Lord of hosts” or “the Lord Almighty”, and the humility of her prayer by referring to herself as the Lord’s “servant” or “handmaiden” three times.

In her prayer, she also made a vow to the Lord that if he blessed her with a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord’s service for all the days of his life. This was the same Nazarite vow that Samson’s mother made, whereby she promised that the child’s hair would never be cut. His long hair would serve as a symbol of his being set apart for God.

While Hannah was praying, the priest Eli, who was sitting on a chair near the doorpost of the temple and, noticed her. As he approached her, he thought it strange that her lips were moving but her voice was not heard, and concluded that she was drunk. (Eli’s misunderstanding of Hannah’s piety shows some flaws in his own character, but that is another sermon for another day.) He chastised her by saying, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself?” She defended herself firmly and thoroughly by explaining that she was pouring her soul out to the Lord in prayer because of her anguish and grief. Once Eli realized what she was doing, he pronounced a blessing upon her “may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” The combination of her time in prayer and Eli’s blessing encouraged her so much that she was able to go on her way, eat something, and her overall demeanor changed. Her prayer hadn’t been answered yet, but she felt much better!

When Hannah prayed, her problems didn’t necessarily change, but she did. Time spent in prayer always changes us too! Prayer doesn’t always change our predicament, but it always changes our perspective! Oswald Chambers, in his classic daily devotional My Utmost for His Highest, writes in his entry for August 28th, “It is not so true that ‘prayer changes things’ as prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition.”

When you have problems, do you pray about them? Do you pray with tearful passion? Do you pray with trusting faith? Do you pray with heartfelt humility? When you pray, sometimes God will fix your problems, but he will always fix you! Listen to this poem with an unknown author titled “DOES PRAYER CHANGE THINGS?”

They say that prayer changes things, but does it REALLY change anything?
Oh yes! It really does!

Does prayer change your present situation or sudden circumstances?
No, not always, but it does change the way you look at those events.

Does prayer change your financial future?
No, not always, but it does change who you look to for meeting your daily Needs.

Does prayer change shattered hearts or broken bodies?
No, not always, but it will change your source of strength and comfort.

Does prayer change your wants and desires?
No, not always, but it will change your wants into what God desires!

Does prayer change how you view the world?
No, not always, but it will change whose eyes you see the world through.

Does prayer change your regrets from the past?
No, not always, but it will change your hopes for the future!

Does prayer change the people around you?
No, not always, but it will change you – the problem isn’t always in others.

Does prayer change your life in ways you can’t explain?
Oh, yes, always! And it will change you from the inside out!
So does prayer REALLY change ANYTHING?
Yes! It REALLY does change EVERYTHING!

Hannah’s Presentation (21-28)

In Hannah’s story, God not only changed her, but he changed at least one of her problems. When she and her husband returned to their hometown, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel because that name means “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

Over the next few years, Hannah and Samuel did not accompany Elkanah and the rest of the family on their annual journey to Shiloh. Hannah must have known the complications of taking a child on a long road trip. But after three years (the usual duration for breastfeeding in ancient Israel) the boy was weaned and Hannah knew it was time to fulfill her vow to God by dedicating Samuel to His service.

Sometime after Samuel’s third birthday, his parents gathered a bull for a sacrifice and some food for the trip and set off for the temple in Shiloh. When they reached the temple, she kept her extremely difficult vow and turned the boy over to Eli the priest to raise from that point on. She gave up the very child for which she prayed. For the rest of Samuel’s childhood years, Hannah only got to see him once a year when they went to Shiloh for the festival. She always made him a little robe and brought it for him every year.

Can you imagine how difficult it would have been for Hannah to give up her son? She was incredibly faithful. God takes our vows seriously and so should we! Whether they are marital vows, religious vows, or some other kind of vows, God expects us to keep them!

Hannah’s Praise (2:1-11)

After Hannah gave Samuel to Eli, she worshipped the Lord by composing and singing one of the most beautiful songs in the Bible. I Samuel 2:1-11 records Hannah’s Song, where she praises the Lord for who he is and what he had done for her. Throughout the song, the lyrics express various aspects of God’s character—his holiness, uniqueness, omniscience, sovereignty, creativity, protection, etc. She also praises him for delivering her from her problems and giving her strength. Praise was the appropriate expression of gratitude for the Lord hearing Hannah’s prayers and transforming her from a desperate housewife into a devout housewife.

I wonder how often we forget to praise God for who he is and what he has done for us? Especially when we think about how he understands our problems, hears our prayers, and transforms us. He deserves praise for all of these things, but most of all for allowing Jesus to die and rise again to delivering us from our greatest problem: sin.

In Hannah’s story, there is a clear pattern that goes from problems to prayer to praise! Do you see it? Will you live it?

Samson’s Potential (Judges 13)

Few people in the Bible were born with more potential than Samson. Like John the Baptist’s parents Elizabeth and Zechariah, in Judges 13 we learn that Samson’s parents had been unable to conceive for many years. Then God sent his angel to announce that they were going to have a son. The angel told Samson’s mother to abstain from unclean food and fermented drink and to never cut the boy’s hair because he was to be a Nazarite. Nazarites were dedicated to God’s service from birth and were raised under strict conditions. They had stringent dietary regulations, could never cut their hair, couldn’t come in contact with anything that was dead, etc.

Along with the general pronouncement that the boy would be a Nazarite, the angel also declared in verse 5 that God had already chosen Samson to begin the specific mission of delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines, who had oppressed them for forty years. Verses 24-25 tell us that God’s hand remained on Samson throughout his youth—“he grew and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir in him…” As Samson grew, he began to realize that God blessed him with supernatural physical strength. God had given him this gift of strength to help him fulfill his destiny of delivering Israel from the Philistines.

An angelic announcement, a declaration of destiny, a miraculous birth, a loving family, a godly heritage, supernatural strength, and the divine blessing of God upon his life! Samson had everything anyone could ever hope for! He had all the potential in the world! You would think that he would be the one to deliver Israel once and for all, but he was about to flush all of his potential down the proverbial toilet. He had a triumphant childhood, but he was about to have a tragic midlife!

Do you know anyone like that? Do you know anyone who has had all the potential in the world but failed to live up to it? Do you know anyone who has been blessed with incredible talent, but they threw it away? I think about people like Lindsay Lohan. As a teenager, she showed promise of becoming a great singer and actress, but she traded her capabilities for cocaine. I also think of Plaxico Burress. With great size, strength, and speed, he could have become one the greatest wide receivers in NFL history. But he was more interested in waiving a handgun around a night club. He traded his skill for a jail cell.

God has blessed many of you here today with great potential to serve him and others. He has blessed many of you with loving families, godly heritages, and tremendous talent! I have seen it! Use it! Don’t make the same mistake that Samson made. Don’t waste what God has given you!

Samson’s Selfishness (Judges 14)

Samson’s tragic demise begins in Judges 14 when he leaves his hometown of Zorah and traveled to the Philistine border town of Timnah. He met a Philistine woman there and it was love at first sight. He immediately returned home and told his father that he wanted to marry the girl. This seems like a beautiful fairy tale love story to us today, but when we consider the cultural background, we discover that it is actually a story of selfishness and manipulation.

The regular custom in ancient Israel was arranged marriages. People did not choose their own spouse like we do today; parents picked their children’s spouses for them and arranged it with the other family. In this culture, to choose one’s own spouse was an act of selfishness and disrespect for one’s parents. In verse 3, we see that Samson’s parents vehemently oppose Samson’s choice. They knew that when you flirt with the enemy, it is only a matter of time until you get burned! They had seen other Israelite boys run after Philistine girls and be dragged into idolatry, and they certainly didn’t want this to happen to their son, especially a son with such potential. But in spite of his parents’ protest, Samson asserts his will and demands to marry her.

In verse 5, we see Samson fall deeper into selfishness and sin. As he approached the vineyards of Timnah, he was coming dangerously close to breaking one of his Nazarite vows to not eat any food that was grown on a vine. He made a conscious decision to flirt with temptation once again. But while he was off the road by himself, God sent a ferocious lion to warn him against this deadly path, but instead of heeding God’s sign, Samson used the great strength that the Lord had given him and he tore the lion apart.

Sometime later, when Samson was going down to marry the girl, he went back to see the lion’s carcass. He discovered that a swarm of bees made some honey in the carcass. Again, his appetite overtook him and he broke another Nazarite vow by touching a dead carcass. He knew that his actions were wrong—that is why he didn’t tell his parents where he got the honey.

How many times have we seen and experienced this same pattern in our lives? God has given us everything we need, yet we become infatuated by that which is forbidden? How many of us flirt with sin by putting ourselves in compromising and tempting positions? Do you allow your carnal appetites to rule your life?

How many young people disregard and disrespect their parents and make selfish decisions? It is all about what they want now and they don’t care what anyone else says. Like Samson, a rebellious attitude toward parental authority usually indicates a rebellious attitude toward God. Who rules your life—God or you?

Samson’s Arrogance (Judges 14:10-20)

Well, Samson made sure he got what he wanted! He married the Timnite girl, but he as soon as they sat down to eat the reception meal, he was already getting bored. Somewhere between the cutting of the cake and the dollar dance, Samson decided to become the life of the party by introducing a riddle and a wager. Riddles were common entertainment at parties in the ancient world. He arrogantly bet 30 Armani suits with his 30 groomsmen that they wouldn’t be able to figure out his riddle. They told him, “Bring it on!” But when he posed his riddle: “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet”, they were completely stumped.

Samson had given them until the end of the reception to figure it out (wedding feasts lasted seven days in ancient Jewish culture), but on the fourth day, the Philistine groomsmen went to Samson’s wife and threatened her. They told her that they would burn her and her father to death if she didn’t coax her husband to give the answer to the riddle. So, she went to Samson with great sobs and a sob story and manipulated him into revealing the riddle. On the last day of the feast, he finally confided in her, and she secretly gave the answer to the Philistines.

When they explained the riddle and won the bet, Samson immediately knew that he had been tricked. In verse 18, he called out the men for cheating with another riddle, “If you had not plowed with my heifer you wouldn’t have solved my riddle.” As heifers don’t plow, neither should they have been able to figure out the riddle. To pay off the debt, Samson secretly ventured into one of the prominent Philistine cities and killed thirty men, stole their expensive clothing, and gave them to the men who solved his riddle.

Samson’s arrogant attitude led him down the path of destruction. His selfish desire to be the center of attention led to his bragging about his sin in the riddle. Bragging about his sin set him led him to make a wager that he could not pay. And when he could not pay, he had to kill 30 men and steal their clothing to pay his debt.

When we have an arrogant attitude, we are led down that same path of destruction. Do you ever have a selfish desire to be the center of attention? Do you ever find yourself bragging about or glorifying your past sins? Do you say things to show your superior intellect? Do you ever find yourself making wagers you can’t pay or making arrogant promises you can’t keep? Like Samson, when our hearts are filled with arrogance and we try to take advantage of someone, it is only a matter of time before someone will take advantage of us.

Samson’s Anger (Judges 15)

Samson was so angry with his wife for betraying him and making him lose the bet that he went to spend some time with his father. After his temper settled down a little, he went back to be with her. He didn’t have two dozen roses and a bottle of wine, but he did bring her a young goat (an appropriate gift in this culture), but he returned he discovered that his father-in-law had given his wife to his best man.

When he realized that he had been manipulated again, his anger drove him to tying torches to the end of foxes tails and burning all of the Philistines crops. When the Philistines discovered who had done this and why, they burned Samson’s wife and father-in-law to death. Samson poured out his revenge on the Philistines by using a donkey’s jawbone as a form of brass knuckles and killed 1000 Philistines. Samson went on to lead the Israelites for 20 years.

Samson’s Fall (Judges 16:1-22)

During his 20 year rule, Samson still exhibited character flaws and spiritual weaknesses that would eventually lead to his final demise. He was selfish, arrogant, impulsive, hot-headed, vengeful, violent, and he always had a weakness for women. One day he put himself in great danger by sleeping with a Philistine prostitute in the region of Gaza. When the Philistines discovered where he was, they devised a plan to kill him when he woke up in the morning. But he outwitted them by sneaking away in the middle of the night and destroying their city gate.

By this time you would think that Samson would have learned his lesson about women (at least Philistine women), but he was a slow learner. He was all brawn, no brains, and sometime later he fell in love with another Philistine woman named Delilah. When the Philistine leaders found this out, they made a deal with Delilah to discover the source of Samson’s strength. She would be paid handsomely for seducing Samson’s secret.

So, on three different occasions, Delilah tried to manipulate Samson into telling her his secret, but each time he tricked her. If you ever want to see a good example of a manipulative relationship, read Judges 16, especially verse 15 when Delilah says “How can you say you love me when you won’t confide in me?” Samson finally succumbed and told her that the source of his strength was his long Nazarite hair, even after she tried to kill him three times.

After he told her his secret, she lulled him to sleep by placing his head on her lap and running her fingers through his long hair. She had already arranged for the barber to shave his head. His Nazarite vow was completely broken and God took away his strength. With this, the Philistines captured him, bound him, gouged out his eyes, and forced him to work the grinding mill in prison, a job usually reserved for donkeys. This is truly a tale of triumph to tragedy!

Samson’s weakness for women finally caught up with him. Like muscleman Arnold Schwarzenegger is learning right now, Samson learned that illicit relationships will cost you your strength. Do you hear what God is saying in this?

Samson’s Triumph (Judges 16:23-31)

As Samson suffered in the grinding mill day after day, the Philistines held a celebration to give glory to their god Dagon for helping them to capture their enemy. They humiliated Samson by calling for him to perform for their rulers in the pagan temple. Since he was blind, they didn’t think he was a threat, even though his hair had grown back.

While he was entertaining, he could hear the noise around and above him and he realized that he was at the center of the temple. Samson finally humbled himself by asking his servant to help him locate the central columns. He humbled himself again by praying to God to remember him and restore his strength one last time. Then he pushed the pillars and dislodged them from their bases, making the whole temple collapse. Although Samson died in the wreckage, he had his greatest triumph in destroying the pagan temple and killing over 3000 of the most important Philistines. He killed more in his death than in his life, and thus, fulfilled his destiny that the angel pronounced to his mother—that “he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” (13:5)

Samson’s life was filled with great tragedy and great triumph! God has given us this story to remind us that he is sovereign over all things, including false gods and human weakness. Let’s face it, Samson was a screw up! He had incredible potential, but he allowed selfishness, arrogance, anger, and illicit relationships get in the way. He is definitely not a model for behavior, but he is an example of God’s incredible grace. God chose to use him in spite of his flaws and failures! He was even a forerunner of our Lord Jesus, who by his death brought down our great enemy and delivered us from the penalty of sin. There was great tragedy and great triumph in the cross!

There are two things I would like us to take away from Samson’s story. First, let us learn from Samson’s mistakes! Listen to your parents! Don’t be selfish! Remember, the world doesn’t revolve around you! Don’t go through life with an arrogant chip on your shoulder! Control your appetites! Beware of manipulative people and illicit relationships! Take your vows to God seriously! Keep him at the center of your life! Don’t waste the potential he has given you!

Secondly, remember God’s sovereignty and grace! Like Samson, we all have flaws and have experienced failures. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, but he gives us his grace. He overcomes our faults and is more powerful than our failures. In his great sovereignty, he even uses them to advance his kingdom. If God can use a screw up like Samson, he can certainly use people like you and me!

Everyone considered him the coward of the county
He’d never stood one single time to prove the county wrong
His mama named him Tommy but folks just called him yellow
But something always told me they were reading Tommy wrong

Kenny Roger’s “Coward of the County” is one of my favorite country songs. The song tells the story of a young man named Tommy. When Tommy is 10 years old, his father “dies in prison.” Tommy and his uncle (portrayed by Rogers in the role of narrator) come to see him for the last time, and Tommy’s father makes him promise not to fight when provoked. This earns Tommy a reputation as the “Coward of the County” as he never stands up for himself.

Tommy is in love with a girl named Becky, who loves him despite his unwillingness to fight. One day, while Tommy is out working, the three “Gatlin boys” attack Becky. When Tommy returns home and finds Becky hurt, he is forced to choose between upholding his promise to his father or avenging the crime that is committed against the love of his life.

The story ends with Tommy going to the local bar where the Gatlin boys hang out. At first, it appears that Tommy will cower again after being laughed at by the Gatlin boys as he turns towards the door. However, he has done so in order to lock it, and there is deathly silence in the bar before “20 years of crawlin'” ends in an explosive fight that leaves all three Gatlin boys unconscious on the barroom floor. Tommy then addresses his dead father, saying that while he did his best to avoid trouble, he hopes he understands that “Sometimes you gotta fight when you’re a man.”

The Bible has its own version of the “Coward of the County.” His name is Gideon son of Joash. He spent most of his early life living in fear, but God transformed him into a mighty warrior and used him to deliver the Israelites from oppression.

1.) The Cycle of Sin Continues (6:1-6)

Gideon’s story begins like the other judges of Israel, with the nation spinning through another cycle of sin. Deborah led Israel through 40 years of peace, but when she died, they did evil in the eyes of the Lord again. So, God disciplined them by giving them into the hands of the Midianites for seven long and brutal years. The Midianites were so malicious that they forced the Israelites to abandon their homes and literally “run for the hills.” The Israelites lived in caves, mountain clefts, and anything they could find to provide shelter.

The Midianites were merciless when it came to raiding Israel’s crops too. Like a swarm of locusts, they descended upon Israel during harvest season and devoured everything in sight. They stole as much food as they could and destroyed the rest. They even killed the livestock and left the land completely desolate. God used these seven years of misery to humble his people.

When I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania, Paul and Mary, a couple in their mid-seventies, lived in the brown and white trailer across the road from me. Mary was a sweetheart, but Paul was a miserable old curmudgeon who didn’t like anybody or anything, except his large and lush vegetable garden and his long blacktopped driveway. Every summer, he spent many hours manicuring his garden and maintaining his driveway. He had the only blacktopped driveway in our area, but he refused to let me or my friends ride our bicycles on it.

One August night when I was about 13 years old, six or seven of the neighborhood boys decided to camp out in a tent in the backyard. None of us were really interested in camping, but we liked being able to roam around the neighborhood in the middle of the night. That night, we snuck into Paul’s garden and picked every vegetable and smashed them on his beloved driveway. We whipped tomatoes and beans at each other. We threw the heads of lettuce and cabbage over our heads just to watch them shatter on the pavement. We destroyed everything except the watermelons. We took those back to camp to eat!

When I went home in the morning and surveyed the damage from the seclusion and safety of my front porch. Paul’s driveway looked like a giant tossed salad. I watched Paul dash from his front door to the edge of the driveway. (I had no idea a 75 year old man could run so fast!) He had a look of devastation on his face and I knew he was experiencing a mixture of emotions that swayed back and forth between extreme sadness and burning anger.

I’m not sure if God used us to humble Paul or not, but when I remember that look of devastation in his eyes, I can understand how the Israelites felt about the Midianites!

2.) An Incorrect Candidate (6:7-24)

After seven years of misery, the Israelites called upon God once again and he gave them Gideon, the coward of the county. What an unlikely candidate! Gideon didn’t have the correct character or credentials to serve as judge of Israel. The text reveals four reasons why Gideon was the wrong choice. First, verses 11-12 reveal that he had the wrong occupational background. He came from an agricultural background. Now there is nothing inherently wrong or cowardly about farming, but especially in this time and culture, we would expect someone with a military background to be the top man in Israel.

Secondly, Gideon had the wrong attitude. When the angel pronounced God’s calling upon Gideon, he told him that the Lord was with him. In verse 13, Gideon’s questions reveal his bad attitude toward God, “If the Lord is really with us, why has all of this happened? Sure, we have heard about his miracles in the past, but why isn’t he doing anything in the present?”

Many people today have this same attitude toward God! They blame him for the bad things that have happened to them without looking for his plan. It becomes all about them in the moment rather what God is doing in the big picture of their lives. Questions like these show a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s character. Like Gideon, questions like this show a fundamental self-centeredness in our own hearts. Do you ever find yourself having a bad attitude toward God?

Thirdly, Gideon came from the wrong family. As he points out to the angel in verse 15, he was from the weakest clan in Manasseh and he had the lowest status in his family. His family background made him an unlikely candidate to save Israel.

Fourthly, Gideon had the wrong faith, or at least a lack of faith. As this encounter with the Lord’s angel was coming to an end, in verse 17 he demands a miracle to prove that this angel really was from God. This lack of faith should have disqualified Gideon from serving as Israel’s judge, but the Lord honored his request by consuming the meal of lamb meat and unleavened bread with fire from the rock.

Like Gideon, God chooses unlikely people to serve him today. People with the wrong occupational background! People from the wrong family! Even people with bad attitudes and fickle faith! When God chooses you, it doesn’t matter if it makes logical sense or not! When God calls you to do something, there is never a reason or excuse that is good enough to deny it. Are you one of God’s unlikely choices? If God chose the coward of the county to save his people from oppression, there is no telling what God might choose you for!

3.) The Cost of Obedience (6:25-32)

After Gideon received his call from God, his first mission was to destroy his father’s idols that the people of his hometown worshipped. He was to tear down the altar that had been built for worshipping Baal, the Canaanite God of nature, and to cut down the Asherah poles that were erected to worship the Canaanite fertility goddess. He was also supposed to build a new altar to the Lord and sacrifice a bull with the wood from the Asherah pole.

Although Gideon expressed his cowardice again by doing it at night, he obeyed the Lord and accomplished the tasks that were appointed for him. When the people woke up the next morning, they were outraged when they saw that the idols had been destroyed. They immediately launched an investigation to find out who did this. When they discovered that it was Gideon, they demanded that he be executed. But Gideon’s father Joash interceded for his son by saying that Baal can take care of himself. Nonetheless, Gideon learned the cost of obedience to God!

This scene reminds us that when we obey God today, it comes at a cost. When we act in obedience to God and do what is right, it costs us something. Think about it! When we obey God by giving him 10% of our income, it cost us monetarily. When we make God our top priority in life, it may cost us a relationship with a family member or friend. When we refuse to cut corners at work, it may cost us our jobs.

Like Gideon, when we are obedient to God, it may even threaten our life? Would you be willing to give up your life to be obedient to God? I’m so glad that our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to obey his father even to the point of death!

4.) Fear in the Fleece (6:33-40)

Gideon’s second mission was even more difficult and terrifying that the first. He was to round up the troops from the northern tribes of Israel and battle against the allied forces of the Midianites, Amalekites, and eastern peoples who were camped in the Valley of Jezreel. But before he went to war, fear and cowardess crept into his soul again. He tried to get out of his mission by testing God twice.

The first time, Gideon says that he would place a dry fleece (a wool coat) on the ground and if there was only dew on the fleece and not on the ground in the morning, he would know that this really is what God wanted him to do. When he woke up, the fleece was soaked but the ground was dry. So, he tried to get out of it again by saying that he would set out the fleece again the next night and if it was dry and the ground was wet, then he would know for sure that God wanted him to lead the Israelites into battle. Sure enough, in the morning, the ground was wet but the fleece was dry, and Gideon knew what he must do. He should have known that it is impossible to pull the wool over God’s eyes!

I wonder how many of us have ever laid our fleece before the Lord! We may not have used a literal wool fleece, but I would bet that most of us have tried to manipulate God by making a deal with him. Have you ever showed a lack of faith by demanding a sign or a miracle? Have you punted God’s plan by saying, “Well, I need to pray about it?” We need to realize that God is not interested in making deals with us! He is interested in our faith, not our fleece!

5.) Faith Finally Overcomes Fear (7:1-25)

Well, once Gideon finally mustered up enough courage to obey God and lead 32,000 Israelites into battle, God taught him one more lesson about fear and faith. Although the Israelites were far outnumbered, God told him that he had too many men in his army to defeat the Midianites. So, Gideon reduced his army to 10,000 men, but God said that this is still too many troops. Gideon then reduced his army to 300 men, a ridiculously low number, and God told him that this was perfect. This was a real test of faith!

God sent this battalion into battle at night with only trumpets and torches in their hands. When the Midianites heard the trumpet blasts and saw the lit torches, they became hysterical with fear, turned their swords on each other, and ran away. Gideon’s faith finally overcame his fear and God used him to deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites.

Gideon’s life helps us put our lives in perspective. Like him, we are always teetering on the edge between fear and faith. Every day we have to make a decision: Am I going to trust my instincts or am I going to trust God? Are my decisions going to be driven by fear or faith? Am I going to be the coward of the county or a courageous follower of Christ?

In 1907, Anna Jarvis, a Philadelphia schoolteacher, had an idea. She wanted to do something special to honor her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. So, she solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother’s Day observance was a church service honoring Anna’s mother. Anna handed out her mother’s favorite flowers, white carnations, as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. Anna’s hard work finally paid off in the year 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.

Slowly and gradually the Mother’s Day became very popular and gift giving activity increased. All this commercialization of the Mother’s Day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day’s sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.

Regardless of Jarvis’s worries, Mother’s Day has flourished in the United States and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries celebrate Mother’s Day at various times during the year, but some such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.

As we honor our mothers today, we continue our series of Major Characters of the Bible by remembering Deborah, who was called “a mother of Israel.” We learn about her life in Judges 4 and 5. Judges 4 tells us the story of how God used her to liberate the people of Israel by leading them in battle against the Canaanites. Judges 5 records the song that Deborah composed and sang in response to the Lord’s deliverance. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of Hebrew poetry ever written.

Let us take a look at this wonderful woman that God used to lead his people! Let us take a look at the life of Deborah—a mother of Israel!

The Cycle of Sin Continues (4:1-3)

After Ehud assassinated Eglon, king of Moab, the Israelites experienced peace in the Promised Land for 80 years. Under Ehud’s leadership, the people stayed on the straight and narrow path. They worshipped the one true God and remained faithful to him. But after Ehud died, the Israelites continued in the cycle of sin that is so prevalent during the period of the judges. They did evil in the eyes of the Lord by turning their hearts toward idols. They forsook the Lord as the top priority in their lives.

Just as in the days before, God disciplined his people by allowing them to experience oppression at the hands of a foreign enemy. This time God sold them into the hands of Jabin, the king of the Canaanites, who reigned from the northern city of Hazor. The commander of Jabin’s army was Sisera, who cruelly oppressed the Israelites with his 900 chariots for 20 years.

Every time we see this pattern of God disciplining his people for doing evil in his eyes, it should cause us to reflect on the condition of our own souls. When we continue to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, it is only a matter of time until we experience his discipline. When we turn our backs on him and go our own way, he orchestrates the events of our lives so that we see our need for him. Just as the Lord rose up Jabin and Sisera to discipline the Israelites, he rises up all sorts of calamities and sufferings to bring us back to him today.

If you have been persisting in some cycle of sin, stop! If you are engaging in some evil endeavor, stop! If you have turned your heart away from the Lord, come back! Come back before you endure God’s discipline!

Deborah: An Unlikely Leader (4:4-5; 5:7)

It took the Israelites 20 years to humble themselves before the Lord—20 years of oppression and misery, but eventually they cried out to the Lord for help. And as he had done so many times before, God heard the cries of his people, and he poured out his grace on them by raising up another judge to deliver them. This time he raised up a woman named Deborah!

When we read verse 4, we should be shocked. In a time and culture that was almost exclusively patriarchal, it is astonishing that God would raise up a woman to fulfill these unlikely roles. Notice first, she was a “prophetess.” This is an extremely rare role; the term is only found in the Bible 8 times. Like her male counterparts, she received and proclaimed God’s Word to the people. She served as God’s mouthpiece to deliver instruction to the nation of Israel.

Secondly, she was the wife of Lappidoth. This is a more traditional role for the time. The Bible doesn’t tell us anything about Lappidoth or their marriage. Because of Deborah’s other roles, we can assume that her role as a wife would have been considerably different from the typical wife of the time.

Thirdly, she was “judging (or leading) Israel at the time.” This is the most remarkable role of all. During this period of Israelite history, the judge was the top position in the nation. She had final legislative, judicial, social, and military authority. She led the people and spent considerable time deciding cases in court, which she held under the palm tree that was named for her in the hill country of Ephraim. Long before Judge Judy draped herself in a judge’s robe or opened her big mouth on television, Deborah administered real justice in Israel!

Finally, in 5:7, Deborah sings that when village life in Israel ceased, she arose as a “mother of Israel.” When the life and livelihood of the people in the villages of Israel were being oppressed, she came to power and delivered her people. All of her roles (prophetess, wife, judge, and leader) are encompassed this term. As a mother fulfills many roles for her children, Deborah did all of these things for the children of Israel. We don’t know if Deborah had any biological children, but we do know that God called her to be a spiritual mother of the whole nation.

Deborah’s unlikely leadership roles in Israel remind us that God is not limited by historical periods or cultural customs. Even in a patriarchal culture, if God wants a woman’s touch at the top of a nation, he can do it. I am so glad that he raises up spiritual mothers like Deborah to shepherd his people today.

Today on Mother’s Day, let us give thanks for the spiritual mothers that he has placed in our lives. Mothers who speak God’s Word! Mothers who stand up for justice! Mothers who are willing to serve God in all sorts of roles! Mothers like Eleanor Dodd and Pricilla Gates! Praise God for spiritual mothers!

Deborah’s Courage, Barak’s Cowardice (4:6-10)

God revealed to Deborah that Barak was to gather 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun to prepare for battle against Sisera by the Kishon River near Mount Tabor. There the Lord would lead Sisera into a trap and give Barak and the Israelites victory. God chose the leader of his army, the place of the battle, and he also guaranteed the victory; all Barak had to do was trust the Lord.

Barak’s faith was weak and he showed his cowardice when he said to Deborah, “If you go, I’ll go; but if you don’t go, I won’t go.” He was like a little a little boy walking into a dark room who says to his mother, “I’m scared, mommy! You go with me!” I love Deborah’s response, “Very well, I’ll go with you.” But she warned him that he would not receive the honor; for the Lord would take Sisera by the hands of a woman. This was her way of telling him, “No guts, no glory!” So, Deborah and Barak summoned the soldiers and gathered them for battle.

This scene should serve as a lesson for us today. How often does God call us to do something, yet we are reluctant to obey because we are afraid? How often does God reveal his plan for us, yet we are still paralyzed by fear? Even though God already guaranteed the victory, all Barack could think about was 900 iron chariots. When God calls you to do something, will you have the cowardice of Barack or the courage of Deborah?

Jael Kills Sisera (4:11-24; 5:24-31)

Now it was the family of Heber the Kenite who first warned Sisera that Barack was planning a revolt at Mount Tabor. Sisera’s 900 iron chariots made him cocky and arrogant. His forces hadn’t seriously been challenged in years, but he did not know that the Lord God of Israel has the power to turn mighty chariots into tinker toys. This God is the creator of heaven and earth and is all powerful.

As Sisera and his chariots rode toward the Israelite army, God sent fierce rains upon the land that made the Kishon River overflow and turned the battlefield into a sea of mud. The chariots were rendered immobile and the Israelites completely routed the Canaanite army. This unexpected rainstorm during the dry season would have messed with the Canaanite’s minds. Remember, the Canaanites worshipped Baal, the supposed God of storms. God proved his superiority and sovereignty over all other gods.

While Barack and his men were defeating the Canaanite army, the mighty warlord Sisera abandoned his chariot and ran for his life. He was probably heading for Hazor, but his strength began to give out and he sought refuge in the tents of Heber the Kenite, the one who had originally warned him about the Israelite revolt. Since the Kenites had been friendly toward Jabin, he assumed that this would be a safe place to rest.

As he approached the tents, Heber’s wife Jael came out to greet him. She immediately recognized who he was and why he was on the run; we might say “She had him pegged from the start!” She got him some milk to drink and prepared a place for him to sleep. Just as Sisera had no idea that God had planned to rout his army by sending a rainstorm, he had no idea that God had planned for a woman to take his life. He didn’t suspect any danger, so he rested in peace.

As Sisera slept, Jael picked up a long tent peg and a hammer and quietly knelt down by his head. She held the peg in one hand and the hammer in the other, set the peg up against Sisera’s temple, and drove it into the ground. In this culture it was the woman’s job to set up the tents, so she knew how to hammer a tent peg. In this way, God kept his promise that Sisera would fall by the hands of a woman.

When Barack arrived on the scene, Jael showed him what she had done. From there, the Israelites grew stronger and eventually the Lord used them to overthrow Jabin, king of Canaan. Under Deborah’s leadership, the land experienced peace for forty years.

This scene betrays all of our expectations. We would expect God to raise up a powerful Israelite warrior to kill Sisera with a sword, not a housewife with a hammer. Even when Deborah tells Barak that he would fall by the hands of a woman, we expect that it would be Deborah, not some obscure Kenite woman. This would be the equivalent of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders taking out Osama Bin Labin instead of the Navy Seals.

But God often uses unexpected people to accomplish his plans. He likes to break our expectations to show his sovereignty over all things. That is really what the whole Book of Judges is about—a long list of unlikely heroes. No one would expect God to use disabled Ehud to deliver his people from Moab, but he did! No one would expect God to use Deborah to lead Israel, but he did! No one would expect God to use a housewife and a hammer to conquer the greatest military leader of the day, but he did! No one would expect God to sacrifice his own Son to save us from our sins, but he did that too! God often uses the unlikely people to accomplish his purposes. I wonder how he is going to use you?

As I conclude, I would like to leave you with three exhortations from today’s text: 1.) If you are sinking somewhere in the cycle of sin, repent before you incur God’s discipline! 2.) When God calls you to do something, respond with faith instead of fear. 3.) Expect God to use unexpected people to accomplish his plan—people like you!

Deborah epitomizes what Mother’s Day is all about! She was a women of the Word—a woman of faith—a woman of justice—a woman of courage—a woman of service! Praise God for our spiritual mothers!

After Moses delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, he led them for forty years and then he died. Then his assistant Joshua took the Israelites into the Promised Land and he was their leader for another forty years. After Joshua died, Israel entered the time of the judges, where God raised up a series of fifteen individuals to lead and judge the people of Israel for a period of about 430 years until Saul was appointed the first King of Israel.

The key word to summarize the Book of Judges is “cycles”—“cycles of sin.” We will see same pattern over and over again—the Israelites fall into sin, God disciplines them by allowing a foreign nation to oppress them, they cry out for a deliver, God raises up a judge to liberate them, they experience peace until the judge dies, and then they fall into their evil ways again.

Let’s see how this cycle develops in the story of Israel’s second judge, Ehud—the disabled deliverer!

Israel Does Evil in the Eyes of the Lord (12-14)

The story of Ehud begins after Othniel, the first judge of Israel, dies. Under Othniel’s leadership Israel experienced peace in the Promised Land for forty years, but as we will see, “once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” This “evil in the eyes of the Lord” means that they turned away from God and worshipped man-made idols carved out of wood, stone, metal, and other materials. They turned their backs on God’s law and did what was right in their own eyes. They exchanged God’s truth for their own lies.

As Israel fell into sin this time, God made them to fall into the hands of Eglon, king of Moab. Eglon forged alliances the Ammonites and Amalekites, two of Israel’s arch-enemies, and together they attacked Israel. They captured the city of Jericho which was called the City of Palms. This was the same city that Joshua had marched around and defeated seventy years earlier. Now it was controlled by the Moabites. God disciplined the nation of Israel for its sin by making the people to live in subjugation to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

The pattern we see here should not surprise us. God has always dealt with his people in the same way. When we worship him and put him first, we experience peace and protection, but when we turn our faces from him, worship idols, and make other things a greater priority than him, he allows us to suffer. He does this to remind us of who is really in control. As a loving father, he disciplines us when we sin.

This is true on both a personal and national level. As individuals, when we don’t put God first, we should not be surprised when we suffer money problems, relationship problems, or health problems. I am not saying that every problem we experience is a direct punishment for sin, but I do want us to see that our relationship with God always affects the circumstances of our lives. When we act like we don’t need God anymore, he has ways of reminding us that we need him all the time. If Israel hadn’t done evil in the eyes of the Lord, he wouldn’t have allowed them to be oppressed for eighteen years!

This is also true on a national level today. When countries abandon God’s law and do what is right in their own eyes, it shouldn’t surprise us when governments and economies collapse and natural disasters occur. Again, I am not saying that every national problem is directly caused by sin, but I do want us to see that there is a relationship between personal and national faithfulness and personal and national crises!

If the nation of Israel hadn’t diverged into idolatry, they wouldn’t have lost the city of Jericho or have been oppressed by the Moabites for eighteen years. If we simply take God’s word seriously from the beginning, we save ourselves and our nation a lot of heartache.

Ehud: An Unlikely Deliverer (15a)

Well, eighteen years of Moabite oppression took its toll on the Israelites. Losing their land, their freedom, and paying a tribute to Eglon year after year finally convicted them of their sin, and they began to take God seriously again. They began to put him first again. They began to realize that they really needed him all of the time. So, they cried out to the Lord for a deliverer!

Just as a loving father disciplines his children and also hears them when they cry, the Lord heard the cries of his children. So, he raised up Ehud, son of Gera from the tribe of Benjamin. Now Ehud would have been an unlikely candidate to deliver the people from Eglon’s grip because of his disability. The text says that he was “a left-handed man”, but it literally says “bound or handicapped as to his right hand.” For some reason Ehud did not have use of his right hand. Moreover, the Benjamites were known for being ambidextrous, having equal ability with both hands. His visible disability in his right hand and his hidden capability with his left-hand provided the perfect strategy to liberate Israel from the Moabites.

So, Ehud’s disability actually becomes the centerpiece of the strategy to assassinate King Eglon. He was able to conceal a weapon on his right side where the king’s guards would not have expected to find a threat. Most warriors in the ancient world were trained to wield their sword with their right hand; therefore, they would not expect to find a weapon on the left side. The guards probably never even searched his right side.

God has a history of rising up disabled people to accomplish great things. He also has a reputation for turning disabilities into advantages. We must remember that God is not limited by human handicaps!

Think about how God has used disabled people to accomplish his plans in the Bible. Moses had a speech impediment when he freed the Israelites from slavery. David was a young shepherd boy when he killed Goliath! Paul suffered from an eye disease when he evangelized the world!

Think about how God has used disabled people to accomplish some of the greatest feats in history. The Greek poet Homer who wrote “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey”, two of the greatest classics of world literature, was blind! Beethoven composed his 5th symphony when he was almost deaf! Albert Einstein, the great scientist of the twentieth century had learning disability in his childhood. He could not talk until he was three and could not read until he was eight. Joni Erickson Tada, a quadriplegic, continues to preach God’s Word to thousands of people all over the world even today!

If you have some physical or mental disability, you need to know that God can use you to accomplish great things for his kingdom. He is not limited by your disability! Like Ehud, he may have given you your disability to serve some strategic advantage in his plan!

The Assassination (15b-25)

Ehud fashioned the perfect assassination weapon, a sharp 18 inch bronze dagger. It was small enough to conceal under his thigh but large enough to strike a fatal wound. Unlike most swords of the day, it was double-edged and meant for thrusting rather than hacking. This dagger was designed to deal a deadly blow quickly.

He also devised a perfect assassination plan. He gained access to the king without suspicion by gathering a commission of Israelites to deliver the annual tribute. The king expected and looked forward to this payment of wealth and goods from his Jewish subjects. After Ehud made the presentation, he and his men left the City of Palms. When they reached the stone quarries at Gilgal, he sent the men home, and he returned to King Eglon alone.

The fact that Eglon had already met Ehud, he was alone, and he was disabled in his right hand, he didn’t pose much of a threat to the king. Ehud was granted access to the upper room of Eglon’s summer palace because he said that he had a secret message from God for the king. Eglon probably felt proud that the God of Israel had a special message for him, so he dismissed all of his guards and servants so he could receive this message from Ehud alone.

As Ehud approached him, Eglon stood up out of respect for the divine message he was about to receive, and when he did, Ehud pulled the dagger from under his right thigh and plunged it into the massive belly of the obese king. Eglon was so fat that he could not defend himself. His flesh encompassed the whole dagger, handle and all, until the blade came out of his back, and the King of Moab fell dead on the floor.

After Ehud assassinated Eglon, he needed to buy himself enough time to escape without being detected. So, he closed and locked all of the doors of the private chamber, thus delaying the discovery of the corpse. As Ehud slipped away, the king’s servants eventually came to see if he needed anything. When they found the doors locked, they concluded that he was relieving himself in the bathroom. They probably joked among themselves, “The king must be sitting on his throne again.” So they waited. And they kept waiting! They waited very patiently. They waited until the point of embarrassment and then they finally got a key and opened the doors, only to discover their king on the floor bludgeoned to death.

Ehud Delivers Israel (26-30)

Meanwhile, Ehud got away and went to the wooded region of Seirah near the hill country of Ephraim. Using the ancient alarm system of a trumpet, Ehud quickly assembled the Israelites for battle. He knew that the discovery of Eglon’s death would throw the officials and soldiers at Jericho into confusion—an opportune time to attack the hated invaders and free Israel from Moabite oppression.

Ehud’s courage inspired a large following. He shouted, “Follow me! The Lord has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” He led them into battle and they defeated the Moabite army at Jericho, ten thousand strong and vigorous men. They reclaimed Jericho and there under Ehud’s reign, the land experienced peace for the next eighty years.

Ehud’s assassination of Eglon and the war against the Moabites raises some interesting ethical questions for us. Is there ever a time when assassination is morally OK? Is there ever a time when war is right? How do we reconcile this story with the sixth commandment, “Thou shall not kill?”

For centuries, faithful Christians have disagreed on these difficult ethical questions. In general, I think that God wants individuals and nations to live peaceably with one another, but unfortunately, the reality of human sin doesn’t always allow for this to happen. Therefore, I believe that there are times when God ordains war and even assassination to liberate people from oppression. The story of Ehud and Eglon is one such example in the Old Testament.

A more modern example of this would be with Adolph Hitler in World War II. The Nazi’s engaged in prolonged oppression against the Jews, other European countries, and even against their own people. Many of Hitler’s abuses and atrocities are unspeakable. I think the world going to war against Hitler was morally justified. I think that even the almost 20 assassination attempts on Hitler’s life were morally justified.

We need to be very careful how we apply these ethical principles today? For instance, was the Vietnam War morally justified? The war in Iraq? The war in Afghanistan? Or even more recent, what about Gadaffi in Libya? I’m not sure! We need to continue to wrestle these difficult ethical dilemmas!

I would like to conclude by highlighting the real significance of this story. Ehud was an unlikely deliverer of God’s people. He foreshadows our Lord Jesus Christ, another unlikely deliverer of God’s people. With Jesus’ humble background, no one would have expected him to deliver God’s people from anything, but he was God’s son. He lived a sinless life and died a holy death to deliver us from the oppression of sin. The cross was the weapon that he used to assassinate the devil. When he was resurrected on the third day, he triumphed over the forced of evil and death.

Jesus’ death and resurrection has secured our place in the ultimate Promised Land. By trusting in him as our savior and deliverer, we will one day we can live in a land of perfect peace; not for just eighty years, but for eternity! Are you spiraling down in the cycle of sin? Have you called upon the Lord to deliver you? Do you want to secure your place in the Promised Land forever? Become a follower of Jesus Christ today!