1 SAMUEL 1-4 _(with Judges 21:16)_ I. With all his virtues and natural advantages Eli had one great fault. He was a good man of the easy type; the kind of man who makes an admirable servant, who does his duty to perfection so long as his duty merely troubles himself, but who has not force of chara... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Samuel 2:3 In all God's dealings with us there is one thing of which we may be perfectly sure, they will be done deliberately; delicately, by measurement, with accuracy, in proportion. We are quite safe there from all hastiness and inconsideration those two banes of human judgment. Job's prayer i... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Samuel 2:12 , 1 SAMUEL 2:26 The sacred historian dwells with evident pleasure on the beautiful, holy boyhood of the child who served before the Lord, wearing a linen ephod, and who in the visitations of the night, thrilling to the Divine voice which called him by his name, answered fearlessly, "S... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Samuel 2:18 Samuel was a child-prophet, and that fact is pregnant with the deepest signification. That a child should have any interest in God's temple, and especially that a child should hold office in that temple, is a circumstance which should arrest our attention. I. God's interest in human... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Samuel 2:21 _(with 1 Samuel 2:26)_ Early growth in grace and knowledge, the training up of a child in the fear and nurture of the Lord and in the praise of His holy name; this is the great lesson which is exemplified in the early life of Samuel. I. Let us first recall who Samuel was. (1) He was... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Samuel 2:25 I. The lesson of the text is that there were some on whom advice was wasted, for the law of God's providence was that they must perish; that they had neglected such great means of grace so long and so obstinately, as to have hardened their hearts beyond repentance. There was a time, e... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Samuel 2:12 , 1 SAMUEL 2:26 The sacred historian dwells with evident pleasure on the beautiful, holy boyhood of the child who served before the Lord, wearing a linen ephod, and who in the visitations of the night, thrilling to the Divine voice which called him by his name, answered fearlessly, "S... [ Continue Reading ]