And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let Him do what seemeth Him good. 1 Samuel 3:18
We were talking with some police officers about the tougher moments in their jobs, and they all agreed that some of the most difficult things they had to do involved informing someone about a family member being killed in an accident or a crime. Delivering that type of bad news was worse, they said, than having to deal with the body of the victim at the scene. One officer said he always tried to find a minister or a priest to go with him to deliver the bad news. How would you like to be in a police officer’s shoes for a task like that? Or in Samuel’s sandals when he had to deliver devastating news to the old high priest in the tabernacle, as in our text? One concern the officers had about their grim task was the reaction of the family members. Some would break into tears, others wailed uncontrollably, others screamed or shouted, and a few would rage at the officers, yet others would sit in shocked silence. We will all get bad news now and then of various kinds. How will we react? We could learn a lesson from Eli.
Although he was deeply wrong in not restraining his wicked sons, Eli had many good points. And one of them was his ability to accept bad news. The Lord had told Samuel that Eli’s house would be removed from its priestly functions. That was devastating for a high priest. But in Eli’s words – It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good – we see Eli’s recognition that God’s ways are best. When we receive bad news, whether it be the loss of a loved one or of a job, a bad report from the doctor, or one of a thousand different things, we need to submit to the sovereignty of the Lord.
Eli was primarily concerned with the glory of God. Although he and his family would be removed from this service, the house of God would continue to function in the hands of others. It takes great humility to accept the Lord taking away from us so that His work continues. Would we be as humble as Eli?
Eli also recognized that God always acts in goodness – what seemeth Him good. We may find it difficult to find goodness in receiving bad news. But like Eli we must accept that the Lord’s purposes for us are always for our good. And God will reveal that goodness in His own time.
Eli also recognized the sovereignty of God. Regardless of what Eli wanted, and regardless of what we want, God is in control and is over all. His purposes are greater than ours, no matter how important our plans and ideas are. It is only pride that causes us to think otherwise.
When bad things happen to us, the bad news is just a small part of God’s great purposes. If we recognize Him as our Lord, we will accept whatever bad news that comes along with the recognition, like Eli, that it is the LORD: let Him do what seemeth Him good. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/MovlC_ucW2g