1 Samuel for You: For Reading, for Feeding, for Leading (God’s Word for You | GWFY)

Top Highlights

“Barrenness had added meaning in Old Testament Israel. The promise of a Saviour to Adam (Genesis 3:15) and offspring to Abraham (Genesis 22:17–18) meant people were looking for a Saviour from within Israel. Every new birth raised the question: Is this the one? Without children there was no future for God’s people and ultimately no hope for the world. So barrenness was a personal tragedy, just as it is today. But it also carried a sense of exclusion from the purposes of God’s people. That Hannah’s primary concern is participation in the future of God’s people is perhaps reinforced by the fact that when she receives a child, she gives him back to God (1 Samuel 1:28).” (Page 13)

“If God’s word is rare today, it is not because God is silent. God has spoken, loud and clear. If God’s word is rare today, it is because people will not listen and Christians will not speak. It is because God’s people have smoothed away what they do not like, or simply lost confidence that anyone will listen. Paul warned Timothy: ‘The time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths’ (2 Timothy 4:3–4).” (Page 41)

“So what do we most need in a crisis? God’s word. And we need confidence in God’s word.” (Page 39)

“Hannah does not yet know how God will answer her prayer. But the point is that she has prayed: and now she is happy to leave it with him. She is a model of the truth expressed in Philippians 4:6–7: ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’” (Page 16)