Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 8:1-3

“When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.  The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.  Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain.  They took bribes and perverted justice.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

How ironic and tragic it is that Samuel fell into the same error as Eli! While it appears he was even more faithful to the Lord as a judge than Eli was, Samuel’s sons were given positions as judges over Israel because of who their father was and, like Eli’s sons, were unfaithful failures in the positions as well. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Matthew 10:19-20

“When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.  For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is a really encouraging verse, but an often misunderstood one. Jesus is promising to have our back when we put ourselves on the line for His sake and find ourselves in the hot seat because of it. He is not telling us that we can be lazy when it comes to preparing for the possibility that we might find ourselves there. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Judges 3:2

“It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

I read this verse for the first time in a long time the other day and it got my attention as it hasn’t any of the previous times I’ve read it. I honestly have struggled with it some. This is the fifth reason we are given that the nations of Canaan were left in the Promised Land. Which one are we supposed to take as true? Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 4:18

“As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy.  He had judged Israel forty years.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

A couple of things stand out here to me. This verse is an indictment of Eli as well as a commentary on how tragic his family situation was. Both of these are things we want to avoid being said about us. Read the rest…