His Glory, Our Concern
Do you ever see somebody in passing, perhaps on a bus or in a store, and find yourself struck by the thought that there’s a whole life wrapped up in that person—hopes, dreams, sadnesses, regrets? Phinehas’s wife—we don’t even know her name—is someone who may cause us to wonder, “What had her life been?”
Presumably, there would have been great joy and celebration at this woman’s wedding. After all, she was marrying a priest! As time went by, however, she likely became aware of her husband’s double standards: he fulfilled his priestly duties, but he also abused his role to sleep with other women, which was a matter of public knowledge (1 Samuel 2:22).
Now, heavily pregnant with his child, “she heard the news” (1 Samuel 4:19) that the Philistines had slain her husband and captured the ark of the Lord (v 11). Typically, you would think that the death of a spouse would head the list of concerns, with every other consideration in the world receding in comparison. But this was not the case for Phinehas’s wife. For this woman, the spiritual implications of the ark of God being captured far outweighed even the most distressing temporal concerns. Even the news that she had borne a son did not rally her. And so she named her child Ichabod, which simply means “no glory” or “Where is the glory?”
In all her pain, disappointment, and loss, somehow, deep inside, Phinehas’s wife had laid hold of something that even those closest to her had not grasped. She knew that God’s glory mattered more than Eli’s name, mattered more than Shiloh, and mattered more than victory in battle. As Dale Ralph Davis writes, “She taught more theology in her death than Phinehas had done in his whole life.”[1]
This woman must have lived in the presence of God. When her husband let her down and she was aware of the discrepancy between his public profession and his private reality, she must have run to the Lord, her “very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Otherwise, concern over His glory would not have been her response.
What about you? Is God’s glory and presence your greatest concern? Does the advance of His cause and honor of His name matter more to you than anything? This way lies real freedom, for it means you always look forward to life in the very presence of God—that city where there is no temple, “for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light” (Revelation 21:22-23). In the details of your day, in the trials of life, and at the moment of your death, turn to God as your refuge and strong tower (Proverbs 18:10). Only then will you discover or remember that God’s glory truly is our greatest hope and joy.
How is God calling me to think differently?
How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?
What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?
The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, fthe servant of the Lord, gwho addressed the words of this hsong to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:
1I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2The Lord is my irock and my jfortress and my deliverer,
my God, my irock, in kwhom I take refuge,
my lshield, and mthe horn of my salvation, my nstronghold.
3I call upon the Lord, who is oworthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4pThe cords of death encompassed me;
qthe torrents of destruction assailed me;1
5pthe cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6rIn my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his stemple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
7Then the earth treeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8Smoke went up from his nostrils,2
and devouring ufire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9He vbowed the heavens and wcame down;
xthick darkness was under his feet.
10He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on zthe wings of the wind.
11He made darkness his covering, his acanopy around him,
thick clouds bdark with water.
12Out of the brightness before him
chailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13The Lord also dthundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his evoice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14And he sent out his farrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and grouted them.
15Then hthe channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your irebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of jthe breath of your nostrils.
16He ksent from on high, he took me;
he ldrew me out of mmany waters.
17He rescued me from my strong enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were ntoo mighty for me.
18They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19He brought me out into oa broad place;
he rescued me, because he pdelighted in me.
20The Lord dealt with me qaccording to my righteousness;
according to rthe cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
21For I have skept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22For tall his rules3 were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23I was ublameless before him,
and I kept myself from my guilt.
24So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25With vthe merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
26with the purified you show yourself pure;
and with wthe crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27For you save xa humble people,
but ythe haughty eyes you bring down.
28For it is you who light my zlamp;
the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
29For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can aleap over ba wall.
30This God—his way is cperfect;4
the word of the Lord dproves true;
he is ea shield for all those who ftake refuge in him.
31For gwho is God, but the Lord?
And who is ha rock, except our God?—
32the God who iequipped me with strength
and made my way jblameless.
33He made my feet like the feet of a kdeer
and set me secure on lthe heights.
34He mtrains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand nsupported me,
and your ogentleness made me great.
36You pgave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
37I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
and did not turn back till they were consumed.
38I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
39For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.
40You made my enemies qturn their backs to me,5
and those who hated me I destroyed.
41rThey cried for help, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
42I beat them fine as sdust before the wind;
I cast them out like tthe mire of the streets.
43You delivered me from ustrife with the people;
you made me vthe head of the nations;
wpeople whom I had not known served me.
44As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
xforeigners ycame cringing to me.
45xForeigners lost heart
and zcame trembling out of their fortresses.
46The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation—
47the God who gave me vengeance
and asubdued peoples under me,
48who rescued me from my enemies;
yes, you bexalted me above those who rose against me;
you delivered me from cthe man of violence.
49dFor this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
and esing to your name.
50Great fsalvation he brings to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his ganointed,
to hDavid and his offspring forever.
Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.
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