1 Samuel 2: Honoring God Above All

Hannah’s song and Eli’s failure reveal that God exalts the humble, humbles the proud, and calls us to honor Him through Christ’s redeeming grace.

Hannah’s joyful song and Eli’s tragic failure reveal what it means to truly honor God. Hannah rejoiced that the Lord had delivered her from barrenness and exalted the humble. Eli, however, allowed his sons to mock God’s holiness and despise His sacrifice. Through both examples, we learn that honoring God involves not only words of praise but also lives of obedience, repentance, and moral restraint.

Proposition

You should honor God

By singing His praises

Hannah praised God for delivering her from her barren condition. When God saves your soul and gives you spiritual life, you should sing His praises. She praised God for exalting the lowly and bringing the arrogant low. In salvation, God has devised a plan that eliminates human boasting. He saves those who admit they are sinners without merit, while He destroys those who trust in their own righteousness.

By walking in the Spirit

Eli's sons walked in the flesh. They used God's service as an opportunity to indulge their sinful desire for excessive food and blatant immorality. They showed no respect for God's sacrifice. When we sin, it ultimately dishonors Christ's atonement sacrifice for our sins. You should honor God by putting to death the deeds of the flesh, and walking in the Spirit.

By accepting discipline

Eli's sons did not listen to their father when he confronted them about their sin. It says the reason for that was because God intended to destroy them. This wasn't God imposing a condition on them that they did not already have. It was God handing them over to and confirming them in their sinful desires instead of granting them repentance. If someone is counseling you according to the truth of God's word, change your mind, agree with God you sinned, confess it on the basis of Christ's atonement, then do what God tells you to do. Accept Biblical correction as discipline.

By restraining evil

Although Eli had the authority to remove his sons from their role of service, he did not. While he confronted them, he did not use his authority to restrain their evil ways. He evidently just mentioned it to them, then let them continue on doing it. Many people had informed him about their ways. In refusing to use his authority to restrain their evil, he gave his sons more honor than God. They made themselves fat rather than respect God's sacrifices. As a result, he brought a curse on his entire family line and they were removed from priesthood. You should honor God by restraining evil that's under your control.

Invitation

God honored Hannah’s faith and judged Eli’s compromise. Both reveal His unchanging holiness and grace. God still exalts the humble who turn to Him in faith. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, He offers forgiveness and new life to everyone who admits his sin and trusts in His finished work. Change your mind about sin, call on the name of the Lord for salvation, and honor God by walking in obedience to His Word.