Don’t Cry, Return to God

1 Samuel 7

“Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, ‘if you return to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines’” (1 Sam. 7:3, NASB).

In Tyler Perry’s movie Madea’s Family Reunion, Carlos and Lisa are engaged to be married. Carlos is an investment banker. He can provide Lisa with the finer things that one can have in life. Carlos is a great catch and Lisa is lucky to have him is the opinion of most of the people that know them. People think of them as a beautiful couple. However, things are not exactly as people think. There is an old folk proverb that says, “All that glitters ain’t gold.” Beneath the glitter is a dark side to the couple’s relationship. Carlos is handsome, charming, and a great communicator. His smile is infectious. “A smile is just a frown turned upside down;” “smiling faces tell lies” are words in the song “Smiling Faces Sometimes” recorded by Undisputed Truth. The smile of Carlos covers the truth about him. He is controlling, blaming, and abusive, both verbally and physically.

During one episode in the movie Carlos physically abuses Lisa. The two go to bed. When she believes that Carlos is asleep Lisa gets up, and she begins to dress herself with the intent to leave. Carlos awakes. He apologizes to Lisa and promises to get counseling. His head is down and he speaks in a sorrowful tone. He has a sad look on his face. Let us stop the tape here. What do we see on the surface? At this point Carlos seems to be regretful of his actions. His wanting to get counseling indicates that he wants to change his ways; how he treats Lisa. It indicates that he is aware that he has not treated Lisa with the love and respect that she deserves. One thinks that there is hope for the promising couple. Then, something changes,

Lisa says, “I can’t do this.” Carlos’ face immediately changes from looking pitiful to a look of anger. He angrily says, “I said I’m sorry.” He threatens to throw her out the window of the apartment down to the street. He forces her to beg him not to throw her out the window and makes her repeatedly say, “I love you.” So, the question is this. Is Carlos sorry for the abuse he inflicts upon Lisa, or is Carlos’ apology a way of trying to control Lisa using nice words? What is Carlos apologizing for? This brings us to the text.

The book of 1 Samuel begins by telling us the story of Hannah praying to the Lord for a son. She promises to give the son back to the Lord for service to the Lord. Eli is the priest. His two sons are corrupt and Eli rebukes them. In chapter 3 Samuel hears a call from the Lord. “All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD” (3:20, NASB).

In chapter 4 the book changes its emphasis. The Israelites are at war with the Philistines. The Philistines win a series of battles against Israel. They capture the Ark of the Covenant and take it to the house of their god Dagon. Dagon falls on his face to the ground cutting off his head and both palms of his hand (5:4). God smites the Philistines with tumors and they return the Ark of the Covenant to Israel (5:9; 6:21). The ark of the Lord is kept in the house of Eleazar in Kiriath-jearim for twenty years (7:1-2). The ark remains in Kiriath-jearim, and the Israelites “lament after the Lord” (v. 2). After twenty years of lamenting, Samuel responds to their crying.Samuel tells the people that crying alone will not solve the problem. They must return to the Lord. If they want to turn to the Lord they must prove it. There has to be a change in their minds, their hearts and their behavior. In the movie Carlos proves that his words are empty and without sincere meaning. Nothing changes. He is still controlling and abusive. Samuel tells the Israelites that there are some things that must change before the Lord will deliver them from the hands of their enemy, the Philistines.

First, God requires them to turn to Him with all their hearts. Lip services and sacrifices are insufficient. God is not going to respond to them if they are crying because of the condition they find themselves in while at the same time they continue to live in sin. How often do we cry to God for Him to relieve us of the situation we find ourselves in? Do we think that God gives us grace and mercy so that we can continue in the same way of living? God gives mercy so that we will not receive the just punishment for our wrongdoings; our sins. God grants us grace so that we have another opportunity that we don’t deserve to make things right with God. In Israel’s case mercy prevents the Philistines from utterly destroying them. Grace gives them an undeserved opportunity to restore their covenant relationship to God. The Israelites must be willing to return with all their hearts to God.

Next, we see for the first time in 1 Samuel the major reason for their defeat at the hands of the Philistines. They are worshiping foreign gods and the Ashtaroth. In the Scriptures we see that when people abuse others it is because they have departed from God and His ways. They no longer keep covenant with the Lord by obeying His commandments to love God with our total being and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. When people depart from God, they turn to other gods and adopt the ways of the gods they now serve. Today, we may not erect large statures of idol gods to be displayed in public. We may not have little statures in our homes. Our idols may be ourselves; philosophies and ideologies that are contrary to what God says. Our behavior does not comply with God’s commands as we decide to do things according to our own ways of thinking. Samuel tells the people that they must remove the idols from their hearts.The people must remove the idols from both their physical presence and their hearts so that their hearts will have room enough to receive the Lord. There are two reasons. The first is that God does not share space with any other god. A second reason is that God requires that those who worship Him be totally committed to Him.

The people obey the words of Samuel. “So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the LORD alone” (7:4). After they remove the foreign gods Samuel meets with the people at Mizpah, and he prays for the people. They confess their sins saying, ‘“We have sinned against the LORD’” (v. 6). The Philistines go up against Israel, but Samuel prays for them and offer sacrifices to God. The men of Israel go out and subdue the Philistines. God hears their cry because they are sorry for their sins that they have committed against the Lord. They return to the Lord. Do you think that God requires any less from His people today? Are you crying out to the Lord because of the troubles in your life? Do you need to stop crying and return to the Lord?