1 Samuel
The challenge to see God’s perspective (1 Sam 17:1-30)
1 Sam 17:1-30 On the night before the comprehensive exams at the end of my secondary school education, I was terrified. Although I was generally a conscientious student, I was also in the first few years of being a Christian…
How God works out His plans (1 Sam 16:13-23)
1 Sam 16:13-23 Finishing my undergraduate studies in theology in the UK, I was wondering where God was leading me in the future. It occurred to me that lecturing may be a possibility since I had an affinity towards teaching,…
How to develop godly discernment (1 Sam 16:1-13)
1 Sam 16:1-13 In my gap year I worked as a volunteer in a hostel in Israel, and one of the guests we got to know started to come along to church with us. To our delight, he also came…
Does God change His mind? (1 Sam 15:29)
1 Sam 15:11, 29, 35 In 1 Sam 15:29, Samuel insists that God does not lie or change His mind like human beings do. In context, God has resolved to take the kingdom from Saul and He is not going…
The nature of true repentance (1 Sam 15:24-31)
1 Sam 15:24-31 A while ago, a football player was making a public apology in an interview on radio. He got drunk after a match and misbehaved thereby bringing his club into disrepute, so that he was kicked out. In…
When worship becomes a problem (1 Sam 15:17-23)
1 Sam 15:17-23 As Samuel spells out the Lord’s verdict on Saul, we may once again puzzle over the nature of his sin. The prophet recounts the command that was given to the king and focuses on the animals being…
How to mend a blunted conscience (1 Sam 15:10-16)
1 Sam 15:10-16 Some time ago now I heard of a married Christian man who left his wife and moved in with another woman yet claimed that he had never known the Lord to be so close to him. I…
Making God’s assessment our own (1 Sam 15:1-9)
1 Sam 15:1-9 After Communism fell in Hungary, many people including Christians were debating the rights and wrongs of calling those formerly in political office to book. There were appeals made to loving our enemies, the need to forgive and…
The challenge of what is possible (1 Sam 14:47-52)
1 Sam 14:47-52 As a young Christian, I read the story of Gladys Aylward, daughter of a postman and a postal worker, who left school at 14 and worked as a domestic servant. Sometime after she came to faith at…
Adrift without an anchor (1 Sam 14:36-46)
1 Sam 14:36-46 Saul’s life frequently reminds me of the unstable person tossed about like a wave in the wind (James 1:6-7). Although James speaks of the doubter, it is also a fair description of Saul’s volatility. Scripture often presents…