[One-Verse Meditation]

1 Samuel 2:12 (NIV) “Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD.”

[Meditation]

As soon as Hannah’s prophetic song concludes with the future hope of “exalting the horn of his anointed,” the biblical lens turns to the very figures her song warned about: the “opponents of the LORD.” These were the sons of Eli, the priest. They would snatch the sacrificial meat before it was even offered to the LORD, and their sin was “very great in the LORD’s sight, for they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt” (v. 17).

The Bible diagnoses the root of all this wickedness in a single sentence: “They had no regard for the LORD.” This is perhaps the most terrifying warning for the church in our time. The shocking fact that the priests—who trod the courts of the temple daily, presided over sacrifices, and taught the people—did not actually know the LORD. This shows that religious office, knowledge, and actions are never identical to knowing God.

Regarding their hardened hearts, which were unmoved even by their father Eli’s rebuke, the Bible offers a chilling reason: “since the LORD was pleased to put them to death” (v. 25). This does not mean that God forced them to sin. They were already on the path of sin by their own will, despising the LORD. God’s “intention to put them to death” was a declaration of judgment, that He would no longer hold back those who were already hurtling toward sin. They plunged headlong into ruin according to their own sinful nature. Because they did not know the LORD, they stood in opposition to Him, and their end was death.

This dark and terrifying truth, paradoxically, becomes the brightest light that shines on us. If today we know God, hear His word, and have a heart that reveres Him, it is not because we are better or wiser than they were. It is entirely because of the grace of God who did not abandon us, a sovereign gift from God who first came and revealed Himself to us. Therefore, faith is the grace of God. And so those who live by that faith sing to the LORD.

[Prayer]

Lord, seeing the sons of Eli makes me all the more thankful for Your grace. For through the Word, You allow me to know You and accomplish Your good work in my life. On this beautiful new day, I walk by that grace. Amen.
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[Daily Reading]

1 Samuel 2:9-25