Matins Devotion: July 19, 2024

1 Samuel 2:18-36

In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God, “thy will be done.” And in Martin Luther’s explanation of that particular petition, he explains it by saying, “the good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.” So God’s will is going to be done with or without our consent. He’s going to accomplish the things He wants to accomplish whether we work with Him or against Him. So we pray that we work with Him, that we’re on the good side of this will and not the bad side, as the sons of Eli were.

It’s a bit of a jarring thing to hear that Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to him because “it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.” It’s a hard thing to believe that God would close the ears of men to a call to repentance in order to condemn them. But the sons of Eli didn’t get to that point without walking most of the journey themselves. Just as Pharaoh before them, these worthless, corrupt wolves hardened their own hearts long before God did. They devoted themselves to corruption and destruction and were ultimately given exactly what they desired.

It was the will of the Lord to pour out His will upon His people, to tell the story of His mercy through Samuel, the miraculously born outsider who would intercede for men before God, prefiguring the priestly work of Jesus Christ. And long before God made Hophni and Phineas play the part of the lifeless sons of Eli, they chose that role for themselves. They didn’t want the good and gracious will of God to be done among them. So when God hardened their hearts, He gave them what they already wanted. 

May we never follow their example. It is the good and gracious will of God to bring salvation to His people, to pour the bloody love and mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ upon this world. May we never devour the feast of corruption and may we certainly never devour it so many times that God makes us into the enemies we already chose to be, the enemies He destroys in order to show His faithfulness. May we always hunger to be underneath the rain shower of His salvation when He pours it upon the earth. May the will of God be ours as well, and may it be so always.