Thursday, April 9, 2026

             I’m currently reading in 1 Samuel each day.  There is a tragic story found in I Samuel 4.  To summarize the setting, Israel is defeated in battle by the Philistines.  And subsequently, the Philistines capture the Ark of God.  Eli, the high priest at the time, and his sons, Hophni and Phineas (also priests) die in the aftermath of this military defeat.  In 1 Samuel 4:22 the Bible says, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”  Such a sobering summary and painful verdict to hear.  Now, the Ark was not Noah’s Ark.  This Ark represented the presence of God with Israel.  It had been taken into battle by Israel and treated as a sort of “good luck charm.”  It was misused and dishonored by what Israel did.  Though the Ark symbolized God’s presence, it did not guarantee that His favor would rest upon Israel at any time and anywhere and for any reason.  And God permitted Israel to suffer a devastating battlefield defeat.  It was a costly and painful lesson. 
            The expression “the glory of the Lord has departed” is haunting.  We live for the glory of God.  Indeed, the chief goal of humanity is to know the Lord and to bring Him glory forever.  But, let’s be honest, there are times when we fail to glorify God.  There are times when His glory is far from our minds and hearts.  We fail to bring glory to God when we sin and choose our ways above His ways.  We need a Savior, Jesus, because we have sinned and made light of God’s ways and Word.  We have disobeyed Him.  We fail to bring glory to God when we are indifferent toward His Word—by failing to read His Word and being hearers only rather than hearers and doers of His Word. 
            We rob God of His glory when we fail to worship Him.  We can easily find ourselves awash in a host of other things that compete for our time and attention, so we aren’t worshipping God weekly with other believers and individually each day.  We can put distance between the Lord and ourselves.  One of Satan’s most effective tactics is to keep us busy and tied down with many things—and they may be good things.  But these things just enable us to slip away from the Lord slowly and gradually.  We can rob God of His glory when we fail to express our thanksgiving and gratitude to Him.  Psalm 136:1 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.”  Psalm 100:4a says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”  God delights in hearing our thankfulness and gratitude expressed to Him.  We can be grateful for the host of simple things we enjoy every day—sleep, rest, water, friends, family, food and freedom to worship.
            We can rob God of His glory when we live impulsively and selfishly.  We can live in jealousy.  We can speak badly of others behind their backs.  We can peddle and pass along half-truths, rumors and resentment.  We can easily turn our whims and wishes into what we think is God’s ways and will.  God is not glorified by any of this.  His glory quickly departs from such places and times.  If we find ourselves having robbed God of His glory, it is time to repent and to do so immediately.  We should confess our wickedness to God and ask for His grace.  We should pray that His Holy Spirit would guide us not to do such things again and that we would possess the wisdom to hear and understand that guidance. 
            Sadly, much of the Old Testament is the story of Israel stubbornly and consistently defying and disobeying God.  And Israel failed to learn from their defeats and losses.  Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  We must realize that life is brief—like a vapor or a morning fog.  And the days graciously given to us are to be lived for HIS glory.  May we make it our ambition to bring glory to Him and to live in conscious awareness of what our words, motivations and actions are doing.  Are we bringing glory to Him or to ourselves?  Repent from the times where you have robbed God of His glory.  Remember what it means to live for Him and His glory.  And return quickly to those times.  Have a great Thursday!