2.4.25 – 1 Samuel 1

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Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Alan J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.

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Today we begin 1 Samuel. When my son decided to read the Bible as a teenager, he asked me where to start. I suggested this book, 1 Samuel. Maybe a strange place to start Bible reading, huh? But I think it’s action-packed. There’s stories of winners and losers. There’s battles. It’s the story of David and Goliath. And I thought it would be a great place for a teenager to start Bible reading. 1 Samuel is the story of Israel’s transition from a theocracy, a kingdom ruled by God, to a monarchy, a kingdom ruled by a king. It’s the end of an era of the judges and the beginning of the era of Israel, ruled, like other nations, by kings. It’s 31 chapters, probably written by Samuel, but probably not entirely, and written about 1000 B.C., I’ve read 1 Samuel over 15 times over the years, and I selected three of my personal Bible reading journals to help us through 1 Samuel. One is 1983, the first Bible reading journal that I ever recorded. The next one is 2002. And when I was going through to select which journals to use, I didn’t realize that this was the year when I was reading 1 Samuel that my mom was in the hospital and she ended up dying. And so I want to go through those. I wept as I was thinking about using this journal, and I think I’m going to do it with you because, you know, life, Bible reading, they go together. And so it may be risky, but let’s see how the Lord works with us as we walk through that portion of my life together in 1 Samuel. And the third journal is 2007, oh, about 10 years ago. We will also enjoy another guest reader, Morgan Jackson. Morgan Jackson is the Senior Vice President of Faith Comes By Hearing, the very organization that we partnered with to get these drama readings of the full Bible that you hear regularly on AdBible. His father started the organization years ago to spread God’s Word in a world that either did not have a Bible in their native language, or maybe were illiterate, couldn’t read it if they did have a Bible in their language. Thus, faith comes by hearing. I encourage you to visit faithcomesbyhearing.com to learn more about that great ministry and our guest reader, Morgan Jackson. 1 Samuel is one of my favorite books in the Bible. So, let’s get started with 1 Samuel chapter 1. We will listen in to that recording from Faith Comes by Hearing.

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1 Samuel 1 Samuel 1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zoph, and Ephrathite. He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.” Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah, he gave a double portion because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore, Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her,

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Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?

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After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said,

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O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant, and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.

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As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart, only her lips moved and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman, and Eli said to her, But Hannah answered,

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No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.

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Then Eli answered, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.

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And she said, Let your servant find favor in your eyes.

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Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord. Then they went back to their house at Ramah, and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, I have asked for him from the Lord. The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.

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But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.

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Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Do what seems best to you. Wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord establish his word.

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So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said,

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Oh, my Lord, as you live, my Lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore, I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.

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And he worshipped the Lord there.

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Well, let’s start with 1 Samuel with the first journal that I ever wrote. The first Bible reading journal I ever wrote was in 1983. I was a mere 28 years old at the time. And you’ll see by the journal entries that I share in 1 Samuel that it was pretty raw, pretty new. So, for example, when I first read 1 Samuel chapter 1, all I wrote was, Hannah, blessed of God, has Samuel. Yeah, that’s pretty insightful, isn’t it? Well, over the years, I’ve got a lot better at my Bible journaling. And by the way, why do I journal? I journal because I want to write down what I’m hearing from the Word of God in my daily time with Him. I believe if you journal, it will change the way you read the Bible. Though I realize that you are listening to this through AdBible, our podcast, I strongly encourage you to consider reading your Bible and journaling what the Lord says to you. I’ve done that for over 33 years. And those are the things that I share often in these recordings. So in 2007, many, many years later, now I’m like 52 years old, my journaling is way different as you’ll see. When I read 1 Samuel chapter 1, I wrote, Life and the Bible are about people. El Kahana. Hannah, Eli, Hophni, Phinehas, Samuel, and God. They are all introduced here in chapter 1. They will all have their own stories, like me and those around me. We each have a story, with or without God, for or against Him. Hannah makes a vow to God. God tests her, and she gives back to God the greatest desire of her heart, a child. Do we receive the greatest desires of our heart from God, then offer it back to him? What’s your greatest desire? Have you asked for it from the Lord? And if you got it, would you give it back to him as a gift? That’s worth pondering today, isn’t it? Now, I also mentioned that when I flip through the journals to pick which ones to use in 1 Samuel, that I came across my journal in 2002, and it was a very trying time for me personally. And so I’m going to share some of these entries so you can see that Bible reading and life flow together. Out of my journal that year, I wrote, Mom has heart valve replacement surgery today at 72. We also had Shannon’s farewell family dinner last night, so that’s my daughter. She is scheduled to leave for North Carolina next Thursday. I don’t want her to go, especially that far. She’s my little girl, though she’s 21. So that was my life circumstance surrounding the time I was reading 1 Samuel. I’ll move up a few more days in my journal when I wrote, Mom had emergency surgery yesterday. The heart surgery caused a blood clot in her intestines. She had small and large intestine portions 15 inches removed. It could have killed her. She’s in high-risk critical condition. Very sad to see her like this. The next day, my journal entry was, almost lost mom yesterday. She had a rough morning, but stabilized later in the day. The whole family is here. And that next day, This was the day I started reading 1 Samuel. I wrote, still in Colorado Springs, that’s where my mom lived, at Penrose, the hospital she was in, stayed all night in her room and in the waiting area with other members of my family. Uneventful evening. Now we try to get through another day. As I read 1 Samuel chapter 1 that day, I wrote, God is sovereign. People pray, and he chooses to answer as he wants. Hannah prays probably over and over, and this time God answers with Samuel. In my journal that day, I just wrote prayer, Mom. In this first chapter, verse 15, Hannah answered, I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Is there something you need to pour out your soul before the Lord over? If so, think about it right now as I pray. Father, we thank you for 1 Samuel. We thank you for the introduction of these folks we’re going to be reading about. And we pray, Lord, as Hannah prayed, we pray earnestly for the things that are on our heart. And by your grace, you decided to answer Hannah. Might you answer our prayer as well. Thank you, Jesus, that you listen to our prayers. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. We love the truth of God’s Word, but finding truth in our world today is much more challenging. In the movie A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson screamed at Tom Cruise, You can’t handle the truth. That’s not our problem today. It’s not that you can’t handle the truth. It’s that you can’t find the truth. If you want to find the truth, I encourage you to watch our video message simply called Truth. You will find it at EzraProject.net. I know you’re going to enjoy it.