January 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

I Samuel 2:1-10:

¹And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
²There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
³Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
⁴The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
⁵They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
⁶The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
⁷The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
⁸He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them.
⁹He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
¹⁰The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Devotional

At the end of the week it is good to thank our God for all that He has done for us. We see evidences of His great goodness to us daily. Perhaps we have had to face severe and unpleasant problems, but the Lord has been with us through them all. He has heard many a prayer that we have offered during the week; He has blessed us even in ways that we have not noticed. It is fitting for us now to thank Him and praise Him, and to rejoice in Him.

The prayer of Hannah, which is given in the second chapter of I Samuel, is devoted to thanksgiving and praise. Previously, Hannah had prayed to the Lord in her distress; now that He has heard her prayer and has given her Samuel, she does not forget to thank Him for His mercy, to express her joy in His salvation and her delight in His perfections and in His rule over the creation and the affairs of men. We, also, who have daily asked the Lord to help us and who have experienced His goodness in the week that has passed, should now offer Him sincere thanksgiving and devout and fervent praise. Our heart, like Hannah's, should rejoice in the Lord; our joy is truly in His salvation.

Welcome to "Think on These Things," a twelve-week daily devotional prepared by the late Dr. John H. Skilton, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and for many years Chairman of the New Testament Department at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.

We are indebted to P & R Publishing and Skilton House Ministries for permission to use this copyrighted material on the OPC Web site. (P & R held the copyright from 1975 to 2005, at which time they reassigned the copyright to Skilton House.)