1 Samuel 4:3 

New International Version (NIV)

When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that He may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

For Meditation

God is not a second-thought God. He is the premier of all things and must be our primary focus and consideration in all we do. He’s not our servant to mop up our mess. Christ is our Lord and God. He waits for us to begin everything with Him and end with Him. That way, He can prevent our messes before they happen.

How many times do we have to subject ourselves to defeat and disappointment before we remember the One who leads us in battle (2 Chron. 20:15)? How could the Israelites bring the Ark of the Covenant of God without God’s manifest Presence and power? But that is sin’s power in our lives. Sin quenches the fire of the Holy Spirit and leaves us on our own despite His indwelling.

Israel went to war against the Philistines in the days when Israel had no king and sin was so pervasive that everybody did as they saw fit (Judges 21:25). Eli, the high priest, was old. His two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, sinned by treating the Lord’s offering with contempt (1 Samuel 2:17). They even slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (22). That is how much Israel’s sins had dulled their sensitivity and their need for God. So, when they went to fight against the Philistines, they did not bother to consult the Lord until their army suffered a humiliating defeat, then then ran to bring the ark of God from Shiloh (4:1-4) (3). Who was the object of worship for the Israelites – the ark or God?

Of course, the Lord was not with them in their second battle. The Philistines routed the Israelites, and every man fled. They captured the ark of the Lord and killed the two sons of Eli (10-11).

I pray you remember that God should always be the object of your worship, not things, even when He has designated them to signify His Presence. He should never be an “afterthought” under any circumstance. He is holy and demands holiness in all vessels He has devoted to His worship (1 Pt. 1:15-16). His manifest Presence dwells only in sanctified vessels. His people grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30) when they choose to live for themselves, satisfying their fleshly cravings. Bitterly and painfully, he taught this lesson to Israel (1 Sam. 4:10-11) and Samson (Judges 16:15-22).

We don’t have to get there before coming to our senses. Instead, we should hold Christ in high esteem and frontal in everything we do this weekend and every day of our lives.

Prayer:

Father, please help us walk closely with you in righteousness and not give ourselves to our sinful cravings. May we not be like Israel and Samson but keep ourselves pure and in short account with you in the power and leading of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’s matchless name. Amen.

Shalom