“And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted [...]
Continue reading about The Statute of David for the Sharing of the Spoil, 1 Samuel 30:21-26
“What if thy father answer thee roughly?”—1 Samuel 20:10.
It was not an unlikely thing that his father would answer Jonathan roughly. Saul had taken great umbrage against David, while Jonathan his eldest son, on the contrary, loved David as his own soul. Jonathan could hardly think that his father really meant harm to so good [...]
Continue reading about A Word for the Persecuted, 1 Samuel 20:10
“Fight the battles of the Lord.” [1 Samuel 18:17]
We will not take these words in their literal sense, as they came from the lips of Saul, when he gave David his elder daughter, Merab, to marry; but will adapt the passage, and use it as an exhortation given to the church of Jesus Christ, and [...]
“So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine and slew him, but there was no sword in the hand of David.”—1 Samuel 17:50.
A careful perusal of the whole chapter will well repay your pains. I have selected a verse for convenience, but I want the entire [...]
Continue reading about David’s First Victory, 1 Samuel 17:50
“Is it not wheat harvest to-day?”—1 Samuel 12:17.
I shall not notice the connection; but I shall simply take these words as a motto; and my sermon will be founded upon a harvest field. I shall rather use the harvest for my text than any passage that I find here. “Is it not wheat harvest to-day?” [...]
“Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”—1 Samuel 7:12.
It is certainly a very delightful thing to mark the hand of God in the lives of ancient saints. How profitable an occupation to observe God’s goodness in [...]
“And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away [...]
When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set [...]
Continue reading about Dagon’s Ups and Downs, 1 Samuel 5:2-4
“And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the
camp. And they said, Woe unto us! For there hath not been such a thing
heretofore”–1 Samuel 4:7.
Israel was out of gear with God. The people had forgotten the Most
High, and had gone aside to the worship of Baal. They had neglected the
things of [...]
“Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.”—1 Samuel 4:3.
These men made a great mistake: what they wanted was the Lord in their midst; whereas they imagined that the symbol [...]
Continue reading about The Form and Spirit of Religion, 1 Samuel 4:3
“What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee?”—1 Samuel 3:17.
The Lord would not speak directly to Eli, although he was the High Priest. In ordinary circumstances it would have been so; but Eli had grieved the Lord, and thus had lost his honorable standing. God had not cast him off; but he [...]
“Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit” (1 Samuel 1:15).
The special cause of Hannah’s sorrow arose from the institution of polygamy, which, although it was tolerated under the old law, is always exhibited to us in practical action as a most fruitful source of sorrow and sin. [...]
Continue reading about A Woman of a Sorrowful Spirit, 1 Samuel 1:15
Look with me, if you will, in the Old Testament to the book of 1 Samuel and I want to share with you what I see to be here a profile of a godly mother named Hannah. I think it’s been at least three or four years ago that I taught a special message on [...]
Continue reading about How to be a Godly Mother, 1 Samuel 1-2
And for this morning, as you know, last week we finished 1 Timothy and my wife said to me, “You’re not going to go on to 2 Timothy, are you? You really need to speak on mothers on Mother’s Day.” She always lobbies for that on Mother’s Day. And I said, “Well I haven’t done [...]