1 Samuel 7:3
Verse
Context
Samuel Subdues the Philistines
2And from that day a long time passed, twenty years in all, as the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim. And all the house of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.3Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
Sermons
Peter Brandon
D.L. MoodySummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
And Samuel spake - We have heard nothing of this judge since he served in the tabernacle. He was now grown up, and established for a prophet in the land of Israel. If ye do return - From your backsliding and idolatry. With all your hearts - For outward services and professions will avail nothing. Put away the strange gods - Destroy their images, altars, and groves: they are strange; you do not know them as helpers, saviours, or defenders. Prepare your hearts - Let your hearts be straight and steady. And serve him only - Have no other religious service but his, and obey his laws. He will deliver you - Vain are your own exertions; he will deliver you in such a way as to show that the excellence of the power is of himself alone.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
THE ISRAELITES, THROUGH SAMUEL'S INFLUENCE, SOLEMNLY REPENT AT MIZPEH. (Sa1 7:3-6) Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel--A great national reformation was effected through the influence of Samuel. Disgusted with their foreign servitude, and panting for the restoration of liberty and independence, they were open to salutary impressions; and convinced of their errors, they renounced idolatry. The re-establishment of the faith of their fathers was inaugurated at a great public meeting, held at Mizpeh in Judah, and hallowed by the observance of impressive religious solemnities. The drawing water, and pouring it out before the Lord, seems to have been a symbolical act by which, in the people's name, Samuel testified their sense of national corruption, their need of that moral purification of which water is the emblem, and their sincere desire to pour out their hearts in repentance before God.
John Gill Bible Commentary
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel,.... When they assembled at one of their three yearly feasts, or as he went from place to place, exhorting them to repentance and reformation; and perceiving they began to be awakened to a sense of their sins, and seemed desirous of returning to God, and restoring his worship: saying, if ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts; truly and sincerely; for he might fear there was hypocrisy and dissimulation at least in some of them: then put away the strange gods; as all but the true God are; or the gods of another people, as the Philistines, Canaanites, &c. Baalim seem chiefly intended, as appears from the following verse: and Ashtaroth from among you; female deities, such as with other nations went by the name of Juno, Venus, &c. so the Arabic version,"the idols of the women ye secretly worship.''Aquila renders it, "the images of Astarte"; so they call Venus as Procopius Gazaeus observes, from "aster", a star; but the word signifies flocks of sheep, and these deities are supposed by some to be in the form of them; but be they what they may, they were to be put away out of their houses, and out of their hearts: and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only; that is, direct your hearts to him while in his service; let it proceed from the heart, and let it be done to him only, and not to another with him; or to him in and by another, as may be pretended, and commonly is by idolaters: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines; under whose dominion they had been for many years; for though their power over them was weakened by Samson, yet they were not completely delivered by him; so all the time of Eli they were not wholly free from them; and especially since their last defeat by them; when the ark was taken, they had been under oppression by them; now Samuel promises them deliverance from it, in case they relinquish their idols, and served the Lord solely and heartily.
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
We may well wonder where Samuel was and what he was doing all this while, for we have not had him so much as named till now, since Sa1 4:1, not as if he were unconcerned, but his labours among his people are not mentioned till there appears the fruit of them. When he perceived that they began to lament after the Lord he struck while the iron was hot, and two things he endeavoured to do for them, as a faithful servant of God and a faithful friend to the Israel of God: - I. He endeavoured to separate between them and their idols, for there reformation must begin. He spoke to all the house of Israel (Sa1 7:3), going, as it should seem, from place to place, an itinerant preacher (for we find not that they were gathered together till Sa1 7:5), and wherever he came this was his exhortation, "If you do indeed return to the Lord, as you seem inclined to do, by your lamentations for your departure from him and his from you, then know, 1. That you must renounce and abandon your idols, put away the strange gods, for your God will admit no rival; put them away from you, each one from himself, nay, and put them from among you, do what you can, in your places, to rid them out of the country. Put away Baalim, the strange gods, and Ashtaroth, the strange goddesses," for such also they had. Or Ashtaroth is particularly named because it was the best-beloved idol, and that which they were most wedded to. Note, True repentance strikes at the darling sin, and will with a peculiar zeal and resolution put away that, the sin which most easily besets us. 2. "That you must make a solemn business of returning to God, and do it with a serious consideration and a stedfast resolution, for both are included in preparing the heart, directing, disposing, establishing, the heart unto the Lord. 3. That you must be wholly for God, for him and no other, serve him only, else you do not serve him at all so as to please him. 4. That this is the only way and a sure way to prosperity and deliverance. Take this course, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines; for it was because you forsook him and served other gods that he delivered you into their hands." This was the purport of Samuel's preaching, and it had a wonderfully good effect (Sa1 7:4): They put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, not only quitted the worship of them, but destroyed their images, demolished their altars, and quite abandoned them. What have we to do any more with idols? Hos 14:8; Isa 30:22. II. He endeavoured to engage them for ever to God and his service. Now that he had them in a good mind he did all he could to keep them in it. 1. He summons all Israel, at least by their elders, as their representatives, to meet him at Mizpeh (Sa1 7:5), and there he promises to pray for them. And it was worth while for them to come from the remotest part of the country to join with Samuel in seeking God's favour. Note, Ministers should pray for those to whom they preach, that God by his grace would make the preaching effectual. And, when we come together in religious assemblies, we must remember that it is as much our business there to join in public prayers as it is to hear a sermon. He would pray for them that, by the grace of God, they might be parted from their idols, and that then, by the providence of God, they might be delivered from the Philistines. Ministers would profit their people more if they did but pray more for them. 2. They obey his summons, and not only come to the meeting, but conform to the intentions of it, and appear there very well disposed, Sa1 7:6. (1.) They drew water and poured it out before the Lord, signifying, [1.] Their humiliation and contrition for sin, owning themselves as water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again (Sa2 14:14), so mean, so miserable, before God, Psa 22:14. The Chaldee reads it, They poured out their hearts in repentance before the Lord. They wept rivers of tears, and sorrowed after a godly sort, for it was before the Lord and with an eye to him. [2.] Their earnest prayers and supplications to God for mercy. The soul is, in prayer, poured out before God, Psa 62:8. [3.] Their universal reformation; they thus expressed their willingness to part with all their sins, and to retain no more of the relish or savour of them than the vessel does of the water that is poured out of it. They were free and full in their confession, and fixed in their resolution to cast away from them all their transgressions. Israel is now baptized from their idols, so Dr. Lightfoot. [4.] Some think it signifies their joy in the hope of God's mercy, which Samuel had assured them of. This ceremony was used with that signification at the feast of tabernacles, Joh 7:37, Joh 7:38, and see Isa 12:3. Taking it in this sense, it must be read, They drew water after they had fasted. In the close of their humiliation they thus expressed their hope of pardon and reconciliation. (2.) They fasted, abstained from food, afflicted their souls, so expressing repentance and exciting devotion. (3.) They made a public confession: We have sinned against the Lord, so giving glory to God and taking shame to themselves. And, if we thus confess our sins, we shall find our God faithful and just to forgive us our sins. 3. Samuel judged them at that time in Mizpeh, that is, he assured them, in God's name, of the pardon of their sins, upon their repentance, and that God was reconciled to them. It was a judgment of absolution. Or he received informations against those that did not leave their idols, and proceeded against them according to law. Those that would not judge themselves he judged. Or now he settled courts of justice among them, and appointed the terms and circuits which he observed afterwards, Sa1 7:16. Now he set those wheels a-going; and, whereas he began to act as a magistrate, to prevent their relapsing into those sins which now they seemed to have renounced.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
7:3-10 The change in the people’s standing with God, not the presence of the Ark (see 4:3-11), led Israel to victory against the Philistines. 7:3 People cannot expect God’s blessing unless they get rid of what is contrary to his will (see Gen 35:2; Josh 24:14). • Ashtoreth was the Canaanite goddess of fertility associated with Baal (1 Sam 7:4). Worship of Canaanite deities was an ongoing problem throughout Israel’s history. The people started worshiping idols during the twenty-year period mentioned in 7:2, or perhaps they had done so ever since the days of the judges (8:8; Judg 6:25; cp. Amos 5:25-26). Israel’s devastating defeat by the Philistines was due not only to the sins of Eli’s two sons but to several generations of unfaithfulness to God.
1 Samuel 7:3
Samuel Subdues the Philistines
2And from that day a long time passed, twenty years in all, as the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim. And all the house of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.3Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
True Revival
By Peter Brandon1357:34RevivalHeart Preparation1SA 7:3Peter Brandon emphasizes the need for true revival, urging believers to lament after the Lord and prepare their hearts for genuine worship. He discusses the importance of removing idols from our lives, such as materialism and distractions, and highlights the necessity of heartfelt repentance and prayer. Brandon illustrates how true revival begins with humility and dependence on God, using the example of the Israelites who turned back to the Lord and experienced His deliverance. He calls for a return to the power of God in the church, reminding listeners that revival is marked by a deep hunger for God's presence and a commitment to serve Him wholeheartedly.
Revivals
By D.L. Moody0RevivalSpiritual Awakening1SA 7:3D.L. Moody passionately addresses the urgent need for revival in the American church, asserting that it is essential for the nation's righteousness and survival. He emphasizes that revivals are scriptural and have historically brought people back to God, citing examples from the Bible where God raised prophets to awaken His people. Moody argues against common objections to revivals, such as the notion that many converts do not endure, and he highlights the excitement and life that revivals can bring to the church. He calls for a return to the old Gospel, asserting its power remains unchanged, and encourages believers to seek a genuine revival to combat the darkness in society.
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
And Samuel spake - We have heard nothing of this judge since he served in the tabernacle. He was now grown up, and established for a prophet in the land of Israel. If ye do return - From your backsliding and idolatry. With all your hearts - For outward services and professions will avail nothing. Put away the strange gods - Destroy their images, altars, and groves: they are strange; you do not know them as helpers, saviours, or defenders. Prepare your hearts - Let your hearts be straight and steady. And serve him only - Have no other religious service but his, and obey his laws. He will deliver you - Vain are your own exertions; he will deliver you in such a way as to show that the excellence of the power is of himself alone.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
THE ISRAELITES, THROUGH SAMUEL'S INFLUENCE, SOLEMNLY REPENT AT MIZPEH. (Sa1 7:3-6) Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel--A great national reformation was effected through the influence of Samuel. Disgusted with their foreign servitude, and panting for the restoration of liberty and independence, they were open to salutary impressions; and convinced of their errors, they renounced idolatry. The re-establishment of the faith of their fathers was inaugurated at a great public meeting, held at Mizpeh in Judah, and hallowed by the observance of impressive religious solemnities. The drawing water, and pouring it out before the Lord, seems to have been a symbolical act by which, in the people's name, Samuel testified their sense of national corruption, their need of that moral purification of which water is the emblem, and their sincere desire to pour out their hearts in repentance before God.
John Gill Bible Commentary
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel,.... When they assembled at one of their three yearly feasts, or as he went from place to place, exhorting them to repentance and reformation; and perceiving they began to be awakened to a sense of their sins, and seemed desirous of returning to God, and restoring his worship: saying, if ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts; truly and sincerely; for he might fear there was hypocrisy and dissimulation at least in some of them: then put away the strange gods; as all but the true God are; or the gods of another people, as the Philistines, Canaanites, &c. Baalim seem chiefly intended, as appears from the following verse: and Ashtaroth from among you; female deities, such as with other nations went by the name of Juno, Venus, &c. so the Arabic version,"the idols of the women ye secretly worship.''Aquila renders it, "the images of Astarte"; so they call Venus as Procopius Gazaeus observes, from "aster", a star; but the word signifies flocks of sheep, and these deities are supposed by some to be in the form of them; but be they what they may, they were to be put away out of their houses, and out of their hearts: and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only; that is, direct your hearts to him while in his service; let it proceed from the heart, and let it be done to him only, and not to another with him; or to him in and by another, as may be pretended, and commonly is by idolaters: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines; under whose dominion they had been for many years; for though their power over them was weakened by Samson, yet they were not completely delivered by him; so all the time of Eli they were not wholly free from them; and especially since their last defeat by them; when the ark was taken, they had been under oppression by them; now Samuel promises them deliverance from it, in case they relinquish their idols, and served the Lord solely and heartily.
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
We may well wonder where Samuel was and what he was doing all this while, for we have not had him so much as named till now, since Sa1 4:1, not as if he were unconcerned, but his labours among his people are not mentioned till there appears the fruit of them. When he perceived that they began to lament after the Lord he struck while the iron was hot, and two things he endeavoured to do for them, as a faithful servant of God and a faithful friend to the Israel of God: - I. He endeavoured to separate between them and their idols, for there reformation must begin. He spoke to all the house of Israel (Sa1 7:3), going, as it should seem, from place to place, an itinerant preacher (for we find not that they were gathered together till Sa1 7:5), and wherever he came this was his exhortation, "If you do indeed return to the Lord, as you seem inclined to do, by your lamentations for your departure from him and his from you, then know, 1. That you must renounce and abandon your idols, put away the strange gods, for your God will admit no rival; put them away from you, each one from himself, nay, and put them from among you, do what you can, in your places, to rid them out of the country. Put away Baalim, the strange gods, and Ashtaroth, the strange goddesses," for such also they had. Or Ashtaroth is particularly named because it was the best-beloved idol, and that which they were most wedded to. Note, True repentance strikes at the darling sin, and will with a peculiar zeal and resolution put away that, the sin which most easily besets us. 2. "That you must make a solemn business of returning to God, and do it with a serious consideration and a stedfast resolution, for both are included in preparing the heart, directing, disposing, establishing, the heart unto the Lord. 3. That you must be wholly for God, for him and no other, serve him only, else you do not serve him at all so as to please him. 4. That this is the only way and a sure way to prosperity and deliverance. Take this course, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines; for it was because you forsook him and served other gods that he delivered you into their hands." This was the purport of Samuel's preaching, and it had a wonderfully good effect (Sa1 7:4): They put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, not only quitted the worship of them, but destroyed their images, demolished their altars, and quite abandoned them. What have we to do any more with idols? Hos 14:8; Isa 30:22. II. He endeavoured to engage them for ever to God and his service. Now that he had them in a good mind he did all he could to keep them in it. 1. He summons all Israel, at least by their elders, as their representatives, to meet him at Mizpeh (Sa1 7:5), and there he promises to pray for them. And it was worth while for them to come from the remotest part of the country to join with Samuel in seeking God's favour. Note, Ministers should pray for those to whom they preach, that God by his grace would make the preaching effectual. And, when we come together in religious assemblies, we must remember that it is as much our business there to join in public prayers as it is to hear a sermon. He would pray for them that, by the grace of God, they might be parted from their idols, and that then, by the providence of God, they might be delivered from the Philistines. Ministers would profit their people more if they did but pray more for them. 2. They obey his summons, and not only come to the meeting, but conform to the intentions of it, and appear there very well disposed, Sa1 7:6. (1.) They drew water and poured it out before the Lord, signifying, [1.] Their humiliation and contrition for sin, owning themselves as water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again (Sa2 14:14), so mean, so miserable, before God, Psa 22:14. The Chaldee reads it, They poured out their hearts in repentance before the Lord. They wept rivers of tears, and sorrowed after a godly sort, for it was before the Lord and with an eye to him. [2.] Their earnest prayers and supplications to God for mercy. The soul is, in prayer, poured out before God, Psa 62:8. [3.] Their universal reformation; they thus expressed their willingness to part with all their sins, and to retain no more of the relish or savour of them than the vessel does of the water that is poured out of it. They were free and full in their confession, and fixed in their resolution to cast away from them all their transgressions. Israel is now baptized from their idols, so Dr. Lightfoot. [4.] Some think it signifies their joy in the hope of God's mercy, which Samuel had assured them of. This ceremony was used with that signification at the feast of tabernacles, Joh 7:37, Joh 7:38, and see Isa 12:3. Taking it in this sense, it must be read, They drew water after they had fasted. In the close of their humiliation they thus expressed their hope of pardon and reconciliation. (2.) They fasted, abstained from food, afflicted their souls, so expressing repentance and exciting devotion. (3.) They made a public confession: We have sinned against the Lord, so giving glory to God and taking shame to themselves. And, if we thus confess our sins, we shall find our God faithful and just to forgive us our sins. 3. Samuel judged them at that time in Mizpeh, that is, he assured them, in God's name, of the pardon of their sins, upon their repentance, and that God was reconciled to them. It was a judgment of absolution. Or he received informations against those that did not leave their idols, and proceeded against them according to law. Those that would not judge themselves he judged. Or now he settled courts of justice among them, and appointed the terms and circuits which he observed afterwards, Sa1 7:16. Now he set those wheels a-going; and, whereas he began to act as a magistrate, to prevent their relapsing into those sins which now they seemed to have renounced.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
7:3-10 The change in the people’s standing with God, not the presence of the Ark (see 4:3-11), led Israel to victory against the Philistines. 7:3 People cannot expect God’s blessing unless they get rid of what is contrary to his will (see Gen 35:2; Josh 24:14). • Ashtoreth was the Canaanite goddess of fertility associated with Baal (1 Sam 7:4). Worship of Canaanite deities was an ongoing problem throughout Israel’s history. The people started worshiping idols during the twenty-year period mentioned in 7:2, or perhaps they had done so ever since the days of the judges (8:8; Judg 6:25; cp. Amos 5:25-26). Israel’s devastating defeat by the Philistines was due not only to the sins of Eli’s two sons but to several generations of unfaithfulness to God.