1 Samuel 2; Psalm 91; Romans 1:16-32

 May 18: Do the three passages for today contrast the heart of a godly mother with hope in the sufficiency of God for the future of her son with the passivity of Eli? She’s passive toward God in giving up her son, but not in interceding. Psalm 91 reminds us of judgment coming for the wicked, but we’ll see it but not experience it because of our opportunity to run to God’s sheltering wings. Romans 1 paints the sad picture of decline in our land and how inevitable it is when people know about God but make a conscious decision not to know Him, as Eli’s sons had done.


1 Samuel 2: Is Eli’s confrontation of his sons’ wickedness a good model for us? If not, why is it what we tend to follow when addressing the younger generation? “Why do ye such things?” (We don’t hear their justification, if they even give any.) "If a man sins against the LORD directly, who shall intreat for him/advocate for him?” They did not listen, just as our younger generation doesn’t listen. What would be a better model? If they lack the capacity to justify their actions, if they don’t understand the argument from Eli’s side, it’s time for retraining, or, if they’re old enough to be having sex with women already, they may be past that point.

Psalm 91: Satan applied vv. 10-11 of this Psalm to Jesus. (Matthew 4:6) Does it apply only to Jesus? It ends with “with a long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” It seems to me that, through Jesus, all these promises can apply to us by extension. (2 Corinthians 1:20) It remains for us to claim them by faith. Verses 5-10 especially are important verses to claim in this time, as we can see pestilence, destruction and plague coming for our land.

Romans 1:16-32: The end of this passage describes why the things in Psalm 91 are coming to us - as we’ve forgotten God, all these things listed have come upon us:

"…all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful” (Romans 1:29-31) 

Does this describe the people who rule over us in the USA right now? It seems to fit in every respect.

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