Death and God: 1 Samuel 25:1
Only God remains. DC Talk has a song called Things of This World. The song has a mournful beat, claiming things of this world are passing away. They are here tomorrow but sure not here to stay. Only God remains.
Samuel dies. The Bible says all of Israel came to mourn, but culturally this would mean the elite came to mourn. The regular people would be too busy with the fields, the harvest, any tool making or carpentry work that needs to be done. They may have mourned Samuel’s passing wherever they were, but the Bible certainly doesn’t mean to imply all the Hebrew people in the land came to Ramah to pay respects. Ramah wouldn’t have had the room or the food to support such a level of tourism.
Samuel dies and the story moves on. The Bible dedicates a single sentence to his passing. He was God’s chosen spiritual leader for the people, yet the Bible gave his death a few words.
The point is clear. This is God’s story. The Bible is about God as the primary character.
Samuel was a great man. He walked with God. He heard God’s voice. When God asked him to play a part in His story Samuel stepped up. God’s request didn’t matter. If God asked him to do something popular, like anointing Saul king over the people, he obeyed. When God asked him to do something dangerous, like anointing David king while Saul still lived, he obeyed. When God asked him to deliver a hard message, like the time he told Saul God rejected him because he kept the goods of the Amalekites, he obeyed. Samuel was an obedient servant focused on God.
Samuel lived a mere actor in God’s story. He didn’t need fanfare wherever he went. He didn’t make a big shrine or have a huge marker for his grave when he died. He was buried in his home and life moved along.
God’s servants are content letting life be about God’s story. This is a hard sentence for me to write personally, because one of my greatest struggles in sin is with identity. I like recognition. I like feeling important and significant. It is hard to be like Samuel and let it all be about God.
In the end, it should all be about God. Samuel came, God used him, and his life ended. God remained. We are no different. We came. Hopefully God actively uses us and we are open to be being used by Him. Our lives will eventually end. God will remain.
God is the one who sustains us. He is the one who calls us to His side and who will continue His work after we no longer can play a part. Our job is not to make a monument to ourselves, but rather to point to God and do His work. Like Samuel, we will not remain. Only God remains.
