Scripture Daily

Context No. 1565 of 4322 · 1 Samuel

Context · Reflection

1 Samuel 3:17-21: in context

17He said, “What is the thing that he has spoken to you? Please don’t hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you.” 18Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.” 19Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. 21The LORD appeared again in Shiloh; for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the LORD’s word.

God has given the boy Samuel a hard word about the house of Eli, a word of judgment. In the morning Eli presses him to tell it all, holding nothing back. Samuel tells him everything, and Eli receives the devastating news with a striking submission: it is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him. Samuel grows, and the LORD is with him, letting none of his words fall to the ground, so that all Israel comes to know he is established as a prophet of the LORD.

The response worth dwelling on is Eli's: it is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him. The word Samuel brought was terrible, a judgment on Eli's own house, the loss of his sons, the end of his line's priesthood. Eli might have railed against it, denied it, despaired, or tried to bargain. Instead he received it with submission: it is the LORD; let him do what is good in his sight. There is a hard and genuine faith in that. Eli does not pretend the word is not painful, does not deny that it is a judgment; but he yields to it, accepting even this devastating word as coming from God's hand, trusting that what the LORD does is good even when it falls hard on him. This is a rare and costly submission, to accept from God not only the good we welcome but the hard things too, the painful verdicts, the losses, the answers we did not want, saying with Eli, it is the LORD; let him do what seems good. It does not mean we feel no pain, or that we do not grieve; Eli surely grieved. It means we do not set our will against God's, do not rail against him or accuse him of wrong, but yield, trusting his goodness even in what wounds us. Whatever Eli's failures, and they were real, in this moment he shows a faith that receives even a hard word from God with submission and trust. When God's dealings with us are painful, when the word that comes is not the one we wanted, Eli's response is worth learning: it is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.

When God's dealing with me is painful and the word that comes is hard, can I respond as Eli did, it is the LORD; let him do what seems good, yielding even a devastating word to God's hand and trusting his goodness in what wounds me, rather than railing against him?

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