Saturday, August 22, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 Samuel 6-8
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 97
Key Verse
1 Samuel 7:10 — “And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.”
Devotional Thought
Late August is harvest season in much of the world, and it was harvest season in Bethshemesh when the ark of the LORD came home. The men of that valley were reaping their wheat when they lifted up their eyes and saw the cart, and they rejoiced. But their joy curdled quickly into terror, for they looked into the ark and the LORD smote them, and they cried out, “Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God?” That question is the question of these chapters, and it is asked of us as much as of them. The Philistines had learned by plagues of emerods and mice that the God of Israel was not a tame deity to be managed with golden trinkets. Yet even Israel, who should have known better, treated His holiness with a familiarity that killed them. The ark then sat twenty years in Kirjathjearim, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
But notice where that lament led. Samuel did not call the people to a new ritual; he called them to return with all their hearts, to put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth, to prepare their hearts unto the LORD and serve Him only. And they did it. They gathered at Mizpeh, drew water, poured it out before the LORD, fasted, and confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” When the Philistines drew near in battle, Samuel offered a sucking lamb, and the LORD thundered with a great thunder and discomfited them. Then Samuel set up a stone between Mizpeh and Shen and named it Ebenezer: “Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.” The same God whose holiness terrified Bethshemesh was the God who fought for a repentant people.
Yet the chapter does not end in triumph. When Samuel was old his sons took bribes and perverted judgment, and the elders demanded a king like all the nations. The LORD told Samuel the painful truth: “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” And Samuel warned them plainly what a king would take—their sons, their daughters, their fields, their vineyards, the tenth of their seed and sheep. Still they said, “Nay; but we will have a king over us.” How quickly a people can move from Ebenezer to entitlement, from “hitherto hath the LORD helped us” to “we will be like all the nations.”
So this is a day for honest self-examination. The God of 1 Samuel is the God of Psalm 97: “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice.” He is high above all the earth, and yet He sows light for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart. He is not safe, but He is good. He will not be managed, but He will be trusted. The question this Saturday puts to us is whether we will let Him reign in our homes, our work, and our worship—or whether we, like Israel, would rather have a king we can see and control.
Reflection
- Where in your life have you treated God with a casual familiarity, expecting His blessing while ignoring His holiness?
- What “king like all the nations” are you tempted to demand instead of letting the LORD reign over you?
Prayer
Holy LORD God, who thundered over the Philistines and set up Ebenezer for a repentant people, we confess that we have not always feared Your holiness or trusted Your reign. You have helped us hitherto; forgive us for the times we have wanted a king we could manage rather than a God we must worship. Put away from us every strange god, prepare our hearts unto You, and serve us only as our Lord. Let light be sown for us and gladness for the upright in heart, and let our lives declare that the LORD reigneth. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 97:1 — “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.”