� Reading 4 - 1 Samuel 3-5

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3 - Chapter 3 records the call of Samuel. Verse 1 explains Israel’s dire situation and why Eli doesn’t realize God is talking to Samuel at first. The prophecy Samuel receives is a strong one, as the penalty for despising the priesthood was death (Deut 17:12). Eli’s unemotional acceptance of what Samuel says (verse 18) is incredible. Why doesn’t Eli repent and cry out to the Lord for mercy?

4 - The prophecy Samuel delivered comes to pass (chapter 4). While the Philistines were a terrible foe we read nothing of Israel consulting God (note verse 3). Instead they elect to treat the ark like a lucky rab- bit’s foot or pagan idol - as if there was some sort of power in the box (verse 4). It didn’t work, did it? We can understand Eli’s shock (verse 18) when we begin to think of what the ark meant for Israel. It was the sign of God’s presence with them, it held the Law of Moses (the Ten Commandments) and was the emblem of God’s covenant with Israel. Had God abandoned His people? Other passages may indicate that Shiloh was over run by Philistines, because after the battle the Tabernacle is not in Shiloh, and the Ark is not returned there (see Psalms 78:57-66; Jeremiah 7:12-15; 26:1-9).

5 - Chapter 5 is a humorous chapter. While the Philistines celebrate their gods who gave them victory over Israel those gods cannot even control the images representing them! Personal suffering confirmed that Israel’s ark needed to go back to Israel (verses 11-12)!

Psalm 23

This is easily the most famous psalm of trust in the Psalter, and maybe the most famous psalm in the Scrip- tures, period. It’s entire tone is upbeat, warm, and confident. It’s metaphor of choice is that of a sheep and its shepherd, something with great meaning to the average Israelite, and perhaps imagery that even evokes some royal ideas as God is the Great King and Shepherd. The intensely personal “my shepherd” leads the psalm (verse 1), that speaks of how God provides for all His sheep need - food, water, peace, and safety. This is one very content sheep! Verse 4’s famous “valley of the shadow of death” line may just convey the terror of darkness or may mean the sheep/author (David) was close to death. Verses 5-6 seem to change the metaphor to God providing a banquet. The whole psalm is about how great it is to know the Lord, to serve Him, to love Him, to be His sheep, to be at His table. All of this combines together to say God provides, God protects, God prepares and when we think on that we realize how incredibly blessed we are.

6 - Racism and mistrust of foreigners is not a new problem. There were many out of town Jews among the first church, and they weren’t being treated right (verse 1). The apostles are concerned about missing prayer time first, then teaching time (verse 4). We could learn much from this. Again, we see Luke’s em- phasis on the Holy Spirit in verse 5. We aren’t certain what Stephen was preaching but we can deduce from verse 11 that he may have been among the first to see that Christianity was completely separate from Ju- daism. Did Stephen’s face really glow (verse 15)? Perhaps, or it could be an expression for inner confidence that gave a gleam to his eyes.