The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted

Intro to Psalms and Samuel

Kings and triumphs, failures and anxiety.

The book of Psalms starts off with a beautiful poem about the difference between living righteously and living wickedly. This Psalm has been one of my favorites for a long time. My senior year of high school I drew a picture of a tree on the front of my Bible because I found this Psalm to be so helpful and encouraging in my life.

As Christians it is important to think carefully about how we live and behave. It is important to ask ourselves the questions, how does the way I am living reflect what Christ has done in my life? Am I representing Christ in the way that I ought to?

It is important to remember that when we choose to follow Christ we become something completely new. We don’t just change in part, we don’t learn new habits, we become new creations. The old us is dead and the new us is alive. The Lord has called us to walk in holiness, by the power and guidance of His Holy Spirit we are to walk in newness of life. It is no longer us who lives but Christ who lives in us.

It shouldn’t surprise us that God calls us to act holy because that's exactly who He is. He is holy. We should expect that a God who is holy and created us to have relationship with Him would also call us to be holy. The Lord cares a great deal about how we think and behave.

Our first story in Samuel is about a woman named Hannah. Hannah lived in a towards the end of a time period in Israel’s history known as the time of the Judges. This was about a 400 year gap between the days of Moses and Joshua and the days of the Kings. During this time we see Israel not walking under one clear ruler, although they had God to lead them, Israel began to do what was right in their own eyes. Israel would sin and turn from God, God would allow an outside power to take over, Israel would call out for deliverance, and God would supply a Judge to deliver them. This cycle would repeat over and over again. It gave us characters like Samson and Gideon. But with each generation Israel grew worse and worse. This is why the story of Hannah is so inspiring. Here she is surrounded by wickedness but she remains faithful to the Lord.

The story begins with a man named Elkanah who came from the hill country of Ephraim. He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second named Peninnah. Peninnah had children while Hannah was childless. Every year the man and his family would go up from their town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord in Shiloh. Here a man named Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas served as the Lord’s priests.

Elkanah was a good husband. When he offered a sacrifice he always gave a portion of meat to his wife Peninnah and each of his sons and daughters but to his wife Hannah he gave a double portion. He loved her despite the fact that she couldn’t bear any children for him. In the ancient world a woman’s value was determined by whether or not they could bear children, and we see this play out in stories like Abraham and Sarah with their son Isaac, Jacob and Rachel with their sons Joseph and Benjamin, and Zacharias and Elizabeth with their son John the Baptist. Like these other women, Hannah could not have children and so the book of Samuel tells us her rival, Peninnah, would taunt her relentlessly. Year after year they would go up to Shiloh Peninnah would taunt her severely to provoke her. Hannah would weep and would not eat.

1 Samuel 1:9–18 NASB95

9 Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She, greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 She made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.” 12 Now it came about, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth. 13 As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. 14 Then Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.” 15 But Hannah replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord. 16 “Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.” 17 Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.” 18 She said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Hannah went home to her town of Ramah and before long Elkanah and Hannah had their very own child. God had given her a son and she named him Samuel because she had “requested him from the Lord”. Hannah then remained faithful to her promise. She weaned Samuel and when she had done it she took him to Shiloh along with other items for an offering. She brought the boy to Eli and gave the boy to him.

1 Samuel 1:26–28 NASB95

26 She said, “Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord. 27 “For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. 28 “So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

Imagine you’re Hannah. You have wanted a child your whole life. You’ve done everything you could. You’ve begged, wept, prayed. God finally answers your prayer and all you can think to do is give it back to Him. In the scope of the book of Samuel this story is often forgotten. Yet here in this little town of Shiloh we see one of the most authentic expressions of worship and sacrifice ever recorded in Scripture. Hannah offers to the Lord this gift of Samuel knowing that the giver of that gift was far more worthy to be praised.

When I first began preparing what this semester would look like I felt like the Lord was leading me and us as a student ministry to take a step back and look at what it means to be worshipers. That is why we did the night of worship that is why we are doing the book of Psalms. As I prepared I wanted to tell the story of 1 Samuel along with some of the Psalms to help give historical context to the Psalms we study each week. If you don’t learn anything else about worship from this entire semester I want you to remember this story of Hannah. She loved and trusted the Lord when things were not going her way and she loved and trusted the Lord when things were going her way. More than that she was willing to give everything she held dear to the Lord because He was worthy of it.

Will you find the Lord worthy of your worship and devotion in the same way Hannah did? When things don’t go how you planned will you trust Him? Will you give back to the Lord all that He has given you? Your hobbies? Your time? Your friendships? Your life?

Listen to this prayer of Hannah in chapter two.

1 Samuel 2:1–11 NASB95

1 Then Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 2 “There is no one holy like the Lord, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. 3 “Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the Lord is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed. 4 “The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength. 5 “Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes. 6 “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. 7 “The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. 8 “He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He set the world on them. 9 “He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. 10 “Those who contend with the Lord will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed.” 11 Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.

We find in these first few pages of Samuel and of Psalms that true worshippers worship in the way they live their lives.

Psalm 1:1 CSB

How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!

Where do you spend your time? What kind of people do you seek advice from? What kind of friends do you have? Do they encourage you to do what is right?

Verse 1 gives us some helpful wisdom about living righteously.

Doing what is right is a blessing

It can keep us out of harms path

It guards our heart against sin

It helps us grow in our trust and obedience to the Lord

The longer we associate with sin the more familiar we become with it (walking to standing to sitting)

Sin is a slippery slope that leads to destruction

How many times have you seen a person’s life get completely blown up because they were living in sin?

I experienced it first hand with my dad (talk a bit about your story)

I have spent a lot of my life afraid I will make the same mistakes my dad made, but what I have found is that this Psalm tells me everything I need to know about staying faithful

Christ offers redemption and hope for a life of Godliness and by His grace He has shown us how through His Word.

Psalm 1:2 CSB

Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.

There is nothing more beautiful in this world than God’s word. Think about the most beautiful things this world has to offer, sunsets, flowers, people, experiences. All these things will pass away. Here one day gone another, but the Word of God will never pass away. The word of God is beautiful because it tells the story of our redemption. How even though we fall short of God’s holy standard, He has made a way for us to have new life in Him through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. You might say the word of God is beautiful because the Word of God became flesh. Fully God yet fully man. He came and made His place amongst His sinful creation yet He Himself was without sin. Jesus lived a sinless life but He died a sinner’s death. He rose on the third day victorious over sin and death. And with all authority He offers that forgiveness to us freely by grace through faith in Christ alone. That is worth delighting in. That is worth meditating on.

We live holy lives not out of obligation but out of joy and thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us (God’s word causes us to delight)

We hunger for the word so we can learn all we can about who God is and how we can honor Him.

What does it mean to meditate on the word?

How important is it that we aren’t just readers of the word but students of the word? What is the difference?

The lost art of Scripture memorization

How do you clean a colander

Understanding the story of Scripture

The Holy Spirit’s role of illumination

Psalm 1:3 CSB

He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

What are some things that trees do?

grow strong

produce fruit

provide a place to rest

When we dedicate ourselves to studying and applying the word of God we become like a tree planted by streams of water. What would happen if we planted a tree by stale dirty water? To see growth and progress we need a steady stream of Scripture in our lives. The more time we spend in the word the more we can grow in our faith and understanding of who God is, we produce the fruit of good works and discipleship, and we can provide a place of safety and comfort for people who are hurting and need a place to rest.

Psalm 1:4–6 CSB

4 The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

Unlike a tree being planted by running water, the wicked are like chaff. Chaff is the dry protective casing around seeds of grain. Their isn’t any substance to them. They aren’t edible for humans and tend to blow away leaving behind the useful part of the grain. The wicked are this way, tossed around by the wind of lies the culture finds popular in the moment. There is no blessing or benefit to be found in the way of the wicked.

1 Samuel 2:12–3:21 CSB

12 Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the Lord 13 or the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling 14 and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. 15 Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you—only raw.” 16 If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!” 17 So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord, because the men treated the Lord’s offering with contempt. 18 Samuel served in the Lord’s presence—this mere boy was dressed in the linen ephod. 19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to the Lord.” Then they would go home. 21 The Lord paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. 22 Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 He said to them, “Why are you doing these things? I have heard about your evil actions from all these people. 24 No, my sons, the news I hear the Lord’s people spreading is not good. 25 If one person sins against another, God can intercede for him, but if a person sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to kill them. 26 By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people. 27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Didn’t I reveal myself to your forefather’s family when they were in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace? 28 Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your house to be my priests, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your forefather’s family all the Israelite food offerings. 29 Why, then, do all of you despise my sacrifices and offerings that I require at the place of worship? You have honored your sons more than me, by making yourselves fat with the best part of all of the offerings of my people Israel.’ 30 “Therefore, this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I did say that your family and your forefather’s family would walk before me forever. But now,’ this is the Lord’s declaration, ‘no longer! For those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disgraced. 31 Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather’s family, so that none in your family will reach old age. 32 You will see distress in the place of worship, in spite of all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age. 33 Any man from your family I do not cut off from my altar will bring grief and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently. 34 This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: both of them will die on the same day. 35 “ ‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time. 36 Anyone who is left in your family will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread. He will say: Please appoint me to some priestly office so I can have a piece of bread to eat.’ ” 1 The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread. 2 One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, was lying in his usual place. 3 Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was located. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!” Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11 The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that will cause everyone who hears about it to shudder. 12 On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. 13 I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are cursing God, and he has not stopped them. 14 Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.” 15 Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel. 17 “What was the message he gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is good.” 19 Samuel grew. The Lord was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. 20 All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word.

How do you represent Christ in the way you live your life?

Here we see Eli’s sons, two men who were serving in the tabernacle in a place of authority, and yet Samuel, this little boy, proves himself to have more integrity than either of them. Samuel was faithful and fully committed to the call God placed on his life. He is a character we see accomplish great things as a priest, prophet, and judge because he remained obedient. Where is God calling you tonight? How will you respond? We have a choice to make, will we walk on the path of the wicked or will we trust Jesus and follow Him on the path of righteousness?

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.