Chapel Hill Bible Church - Sermons

"Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love." The people of Israel persist to revert back to their folly. They want a king who will make them like the other nations, a king of their own making. God's plan of salvation will not be thwarted by His people's folly. In all of this, He calls His people to consider, "Who is your king?"

In 1st Samuel 7:3–17, Samuel calls Israel to return to the Lord with all their hearts—to put away their idols, serve the Lord alone, and trust Him for their deliverance. As Israel discovers, the real battle is not ultimately against the Philistines but against the idols that have captured their hearts. We face the same battle today. The good things we love can quietly become ultimate things, promising us comfort, control, approval, or security that only God can provide. Yet this passage points us toward a God who not only calls us to repent but graciously meets us in our weakness, fights for us, and restores what sin has broken. The question is not simply whether we understand idolatry, but whether we will entrust our whole hearts to the Lord.

In 1st Samuel 6:1–7:2, the return of the ark reveals a sobering truth: God's holiness is not to be taken lightly. Both the Philistines and the Israelites discover that the living God cannot be treated casually or manipulated to serve their purposes. Their question becomes our question: "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?" Yet this is ultimately a story not merely of holiness and judgment, but of breathtaking love. At the cross, God struck His Son in our place so that we, sinners who could never stand before Him on our own, might be welcomed into His presence. His holiness is a burning and awful thing—and the very foundation of His saving grace.

In 1st Samuel 5, the ark of God is in enemy territory, and Israel appears nowhere in the story. Yet God is entirely in control. Dagon falls, the Philistines are judged, and the Lord demonstrates that He does not need Israel—or anyone else—to accomplish His purposes. God's got this. But that truth is also an invitation to trust Him: to stop trying to control what we cannot control, to bring our fears and needs to Him in prayer, and to rest in the God who is able to save, sustain, and accomplish His purposes even when we are not in the room.

In 1st Samuel 4, we come to one of the darkest moments in Israel's story: the ark of God is captured, Eli dies, and the cry goes up, "The glory has departed from Israel." But the deeper problem wasn't that Israel had lost the ark—it was that they had tried to use God rather than worship God. As we consider Israel's "Thou Art Useful" faith, we'll be challenged to ask whether we love God for what He gives us or simply because He is worthy. And we'll see the surprising hope of the Gospel: the God who allowed His glory to be shamed in 1st Samuel ultimately takes shame upon Himself in Christ so that His glory—and His gracious presence—might dwell with His people.