We’re in 1 Samuel chapter four today, because in it we see God refusing to do what His own nation wants Him to do. They want freedom, He not only refuses, He gives them over to defeat, mourning, chaos, oppression, and death.

He is not with them because they are not with Him.

When life gets into a routine it becomes a long rut. A long rut is really a very long grave.

We’ve seen how God has so worked through a barren woman’s suffering so that she would bring forth a son who will be devoted to God all his life, and do all God’s will.

Today we see why that is necessary. The heart of the nation is its worship. If the worship is corrupt, the people will be in darkness and the nation will be in a mess.

You overcome in life when you prevail with God.

We get the impression that life is compartmentalised into spiritual things over here and secular, practical things here, and they never interact, God doesn’t work in the real world.

The Bible shows us that everything in life is spiritual. Therefore the only solution to life is spiritual. God changes things.

God created the world with purpose that nothing can erase: it’s made for judgment.

He created time, too. Time has a purpose: to prepare us for eternity.

Why does this world exist? What’s the purpose? People have become more or less accustomed to the idea that it just happened by accident.