No Other Boast

But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

—1 Samuel 8:19–22

Oh if Israel only knew, and if we only could learn, what good a little patience could bring us and what trouble it might save us. If they only knew that in a short time, God would give them a king, not like the nations, but a king after His own heart. God would give them a king whose rule would be an expression of His own rule. David would rule as an adopted Son. His throne would be a manifestation of the throne of God. Yahweh would give a king, not who would take, but who would give.

And yet, despite their impatience, God is patient. Despite their ingratitude, God is gracious. Despite their rejecting Him as King, God is Sovereign. He rules their rebellion for redemption. Their demand for a king like the nations to judge them is answered, not only as judgment, but as chastisement. A chastisement meant to bring them to repentance. Saul prepares them, and us, for David. Saul is a foil, he is set up to contrast with David and bring out David’s excellencies.

God uses our sin to show us His holiness. He uses our blindness to open our eyes. He uses our hardness to soften us. He uses our disobedience to work His will. God answers their demand for a King to prepare their hearts and ours for a different kind of King. A King after His own heart. He will not be a pragmatic king, heeding the voice of the people. He will be an obedient King, heeding the voice of His God. He will judge in perfect righteousness and fight with absolute victory. He will not be a king who takes, but a King who gives. He will not be a king like the nations, but a heavenly King. Yet, though from the heavens, He will not be a foreign king, but one from among His brothers. His name is Jesus. He is not a king that we try to put in the place of God, but a King who comes as God taking the place of man.

Citizens of the kingdom of God, look on your King, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6–11).

Check your envy. Pitch your impatience. Look to the King who has already come and who will come again.

“From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.”

—1 Samuel 7:2

The ark has returned, but it has no home. A prophet has arisen, but we do not hear from him. A king is expected, but there is no deliverance. And, yet, before the events of 1 Samuel 7 ever take place, within the darkness and confusion, Israel could still have said, “Ebenezer! Till now Yahweh has helped us.” 

When Samuel says these words, they are words, not of termination, but continuation. “Till now”— those words can be devastating. “Till now, you’ve been insured.” “Till now, we’ve been engaged.” “Till now, you’ve been employed.” But this is not how Samuel raises Ebenezer. It is a monument to the past in hope of a future. Monuments are meant to endure as a testimony to the enduring. The stone Ebenezer has been lost, but the steadfast covenant love of God endures still. “Ebenezer” speaks to something more solid than stone.

The ark has returned, a prophet has arisen, and a king is expected. Still, it is the time of the judges. But even throughout these dark days, Israel could say again and again, “Till now, the LORD has helped us.” And she could say it, not with sorrow for something that has ended, but with hope for something greater still.

Israel will receive David. But greater things are still to come. Israel will receive the temple and the ark will find a home. But greater things are still to come. Yes, the tree of the Davidic dynasty would be felled. Yes, the temple would be destroyed. Yes, the ark would be lost. Even so, Israel could still say, “Till now, the LORD has helped us.” Greater things were still to come. In the darkness they lost only shadows, but the Light that cast those shadows was certain to dawn.

Christ has come. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. Till now the LORD has helped us. And greater things are still to come. God has given us the King. Atonement has been made. We may draw near before the throne of grace. And we have the hope, not a veiled temple containing an isolated ark. No, we have the hope of beholding the glory of our Redeemer evermore. Till now, the LORD has helped us. And if He has given us Christ, His only begotten and eternally beloved Son, how will He not with Him give us all things (Romans 8:32)?

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. 

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

1 Samuel 4:1–3

Dale Ralph Davis states, “Our writer draws a heavy line across the page after chapter 3.” In chapters 4–6 our focus sifts dramatically.

“And the word of Samuel came to all Israel” (v. 1a). These words belong to the narrative of chapter 3. Draw the line after them. This is one of those glaring blunders that remind you that the chapter divisions you have in your Bible are nothing more than uninspired addresses to help you find your place.

Though these words belong to the narrative of chapter 3, they naturally flow into chapter 4, and yet, they make that line all the more bold. “And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines.” There is a line dividing these narratives, but there is also a line connecting them. “Israel” connects them. “Samuel” marks part of the division. Samuel will not be mentioned again until 7:3. 

All our focus, and much of our hope and anticipation have been tied to this boy now turned prophet, and then, having become a prophet, he disappears for three chapters. The Word has come to all Israel, but now, Samuel is mysteriously absent. Whatever actions Israel is about to take, you know this, they are not guided by the Word of the Lord through His prophet Samuel. Israel has retrogressed. Before Samuel, the “word of God was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision” (3:1). Samuel is absent. They are again doing what is right in their own eyes.

When the word of God comes to Israel through Samuel, it is not then because they have their act together. It is not because they have been faithful. It is because God is faithful. And while His faithfulness to His covenant does mean grace, it first means judgment. But grace is enveloped in judgment.

Psalm 78:67–72 (ESV)

He rejected the tent of Joseph; 
      he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, 
but he chose the tribe of Judah, 
      Mount Zion, which he loves. 
He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, 
      like the earth, which he has founded forever. 
He chose David his servant 
      and took him from the sheepfolds; 
from following the nursing ewes he brought him 
      to shepherd Jacob his people, 
      Israel his inheritance. 
With upright heart he shepherded them 
      and guided them with his skillful hand.

     —Psalm 78:67–72

There is a line dividing God’s grace and His judgment, but there is also a line connecting them. Enveloped within this judgment is grace. Shilo is destroyed that Jerusalem might be built. Ephraim is rejected that Judah might be chosen. The ark is captured that it might come to rest in the temple. A wicked priesthood falls that the Davidic dynasty might be established. Here, there is not only reason to fear the judgement of Yahweh, but hope for His grace.

At the cross we see best that when God draws a line of judgement, He also draws a line of grace. A line was drawn in judgment, as the Man hung forsaken on the cross. A line was drawn in grace, reconciling God and man.

"My heart exults in the LORD; 
      my horn is exalted in the LORD. 
My mouth derides my enemies, 
      because I rejoice in your salvation" (1 Samuel 2:1).

Hannah’s prayer of praise opens with exclamation for personal reversal. Many a song has been ruined by a predominance of “my” and “I.” But “my” and “I” are not necessarily poisonous to every song. If you are to rejoice in redemptive reversal, it must be personal. David sang, “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:5–6). If you cannot sing “my” and “I,” you have no reason to sing.

What separates the bad “my and I” songs and prayers from the good ones? Much of it can be seen in this: Hannah’s song is as theological as it is personal. Matthew Henry well expresses what it is that makes this song beautiful instead of ugly. 

“What great things she says of God. She takes little notice of the particular mercy she was now rejoicing in, does not commend Samuel for the prettiest child, the most toward and sensible for his age that she ever saw, as fond parents are apt to do. No, she overlooks the gift, and praises the giver, whereas most forget the giver and fasten only on the gift. Every stream should lead us to the fountain; and favors we receive from God should raise our admiration of the infinite perfections there are in God.”

"There is none holy like the LORD: 
     for there is none besides you; 
     there is no rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2)

The gift was good, but Yahweh is peerless. Our God is not only incomprehensible; He is incomparable. He is incomprehensible. We cannot comprehensively master His infinite glory. He is incomprehensible, but one thing we may comprehend about Him, is that He is incomparable. “There is none holy like Yahweh.” When Moses asked God what he should say when the people ask the name of the God of their fathers, God answers “I AM.” Names define. God alone can define Himself. There is no other. “There is none besides you.” God always wins His class because He is the only one in His class. His position is uncontested. This is not because His class is low and insignificant. It is the highest and most esteemed.

“There is no rock like our God.” After the Red Sea swallowed the Egyptian forces, Moses sang, “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). The understood answer—no one! As Israel prepared to take Canaan, Moses gathered all the people and sang to them of this Rock. “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. …their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves” (Deuteronomy 32:4, 31).

With Hannah we may rejoice that the incomparable Lord is our God. He is our Rock. We are not by ourselves. It’s personal. It’s theological. Such is the stuff of true praise and prayer.

Samuel opens with a birth narrative, a nativity. Though the Bible is filled with such stories, they are not told recklessly.  The Bible is not littered with nativities. Select nativities are set within the narrative. God does not toss nativities like trash out of a window. He sets them like gems in jewelry. When God tells a birth story, He is preparing us for a bigger story.

God made man and blessed him saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). A multitude of births followed, but the hope of man looks for just one—the promised Seed of the Woman who will crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). When God tells a birth story, it is pregnant with this hope. 

Genesis is structured around genealogies. The story of the patriarchs is a story of births. God promised Abraham that “in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 26:4). When God tells a birth story, He is telling the story of the Offspring in which all the nations are blessed. When God tells a birth story, pay attention, because something big is about to happen, something God-sized.

To tell any birth story, some introductions must be made. Ours opens telling us that “there was a certain man.” Before God has told us the man’s name, he has told us much. Samuel opens during the time of the judges and transitions us to the kings. The birth story of the most well known judge opens in this way, “There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children” (Judges 13:2).

Do you remember the rest? 

“And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines’” (Judges 13:3–5).

This is the birth story of Sampson. When God tells us a birth story, He is telling us He is about to do something. 

Later in Samuel we will encounter this phrase again. “There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth” (1 Samuel 9:1). This is how we are introduced to Saul. When God tells us a birth story, He is telling us He is about to do something.

Yes, this nativity anticipates the nativity, but it foreshadows Elizabeth more than it does Mary. Elizabeth was barren. Her husband Zechariah receives a vision in the temple. The child is to be dedicated to the Lord. He is not the Seed, but he will introduce Him. Neither of these nativities tell of the King, but in both of them, we are introduced to the introducer. God is about to do something.

To understand 1 & 2 Samuel you must understand Judges. To understand Judges you must understand Joshua. To understand Joshua you must understand Deuteronomy. To understand Deuteronomy you must understand Exodus. To understand Exodus you must understand Genesis.

You must read the Bible in order to read the Bible. Every time you read through the Bible, you are better equipped to read the Bible. You begin, more and more, to read the Bible in light of the Bible. You bring less of yourself and less of your culture to it. You begin to read yourself and the world in light of the Bible.

To understand Samuel, you must understand Judges.Through the latter half of Judges, one repeatedly encounters this haunting line, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The morality of Israel is linked to her king. Think how often in Kings you read something like this, “Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree” (2 Kings 16:2–4). The King leads the people in worship or idolatry.

To understand this aspect of Samuel and Judges, you must understand Joshua. Joshua closes with Joshua charging the people to remain faithful to the covenant that God has made with them. This means driving out the remnant of the nations, not intermarrying with them, and not being like them.

Joshua recalls God’s faithfulness to His promise in bringing them to the land and warns them not to go and serve other gods, lest God drive them from the land (Joshua 23). It was their disobedience to this command and this threat of judgment that looms large over Judges.

To understand Joshua you must understand Deuteronomy. During the time of the judges, two promises had not yet been fulfilled, that of a king and a place. Again and again in Deuteronomy we find language like this, “But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, then to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you” (Deuteronomy 12:10–11).

Also, the people’s plea for a king to Samuel was not altogether evil. It was their demand and their desire therein that were wicked. But God had promises them in His covenant saying, “When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you” (Deuteronomy 17:14–15).

To understand Deuteronomy you must understand the Torah. This means you must understand Exodus, where Yahweh redeems His people out of Egypt, that they might be His people and He might be their God. He does this to bring them into a land of milk and honey where He will dwell in their midst.

This means you must understand Genesis and the promises to the patriarchs. God promised Abraham land, children, and blessedness. Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob. God renamed Jacob Israel. Israel had twelve sons. Among them was Judah, whom Israel blessed saying, “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk” (Genesis 49:8–12).

To understand that promise, we must go all the way way back to the beginning. God created man in His image, giving him dominion and placing him in the garden. Adam was a king. He was blessed. God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule—this was blessedness. This was how things were meant to be.

When Adam sinned, this was lost. But God gave the promise of a seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent. This is the promise of a warrior king who would set creation right, putting the serpent back under the foot of man, a King who would reestablish God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule.

From this point forward, in your reading of Scripture, you are looking to every peculiar birth of a son with this hope. And so it is that we come to this book that opens with a woman desperate for a child that she then dedicates to the Lord. A child who grows up to anoint a king. A king who defeats the enemies of the people of the Lord, but who is to have a greater Son who will enjoy rest and build a house for Yahweh.