A Good Luck Charm

Today’s Passage – 1 Samuel 4 – 7

(Second Milers also read – Revelation 15 – 18; Proverbs 30; Psalms 141 – 150)

Scripture Memory for March – Psalm 1

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Ephesians 4:32

Read last year’s post on this passage – “Get It Out”

“And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.” – (1 Samuel 4:3)

Do you notice anything strange in the above verse? Look at the word “it” in the last phrase. The Israelites, referring to the ark of the covenant, said, “it may save us out of the hand of our enemies”. I believe it is clear from their statement here that the Israelites were not trusting in the God that “dwelleth between the cherubims” on the ark; but rather they were trusting in the ark itself as some kind of good luck charm, sort of like the rabbit foot pictured above.

Notice also that the Philistines, a heathen people, had a different attitude about the ark entering into the battle against them:

“And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.” – (1 Samuel 4:6 & 7)

The Philistines weren’t afraid of the ark, which was just a wooden box overlaid with gold. They were afraid of the God of the ark. They knew that the ark represented the presence of God, and they also knew that if God was fighting against them, they were finished. The interesting thing is, however, that God did not help the Israelites, because they did not have the right attitude about the God of the ark. If anything, God actually helped the Philistines.

Is God just a good luck charm to you? Is He perhaps a cross on a chain that you wear wherever you go? Don’t reduce the living, omnipotent God of the universe to a mere “it”, a symbol that may or may not help you when you’re in a jam. He is God. He is the sovereign Lord; the King of Kings. He deserves your worship, He demands your obedience, and He desires your fellowship.