July 30 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

1 Samuel 8:1-9

¹And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
²Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.
³And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
⁵And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
⁶But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
⁷And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
⁸According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
⁹Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

Devotional

With the sad story of Eli and his sons before us, it is a surprise to read of Samuel's own sons, Joel and Abiah! We would think that having an object lesson on the results of parental permissiveness enacted before his eyes would cause Samuel to take heed and be especially careful in his own family. And it may have been that he was! Here God's Word does not give us any indication of neglect on Samuel's part. As we read also in the case of the sons of some of the kings, Samuel's sons are said plainly to have 'walked not in his ways' (8:3).

What do we say about this? And what lesson is here for us? First, of course, we apply ourselves to bringing up our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. We seek to avoid the sins of Eli. We give ourselves to prayer that God will be gracious to us and to the children He has given us.

But we remember that the salvation of our sons is a matter of individual responsibility. And we remember that ultimately it is a matter of the grace of our Sovereign God.

And in times of stress when it seems as though our children are so slow to respond to God's free offer of salvation there are things we may learn. It may be that we are the ones who need to be turned inside out to see whether there is any wicked way in us. Maybe God is striking at our most vulnerable part in order that we may be renovated by His Spirit!

And through it all we must submit to His will and know that He is working out all things to the good of His people as a whole and to His own ultimate glory.