July 24-Who can Stand?

Journey through 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 6.1-7.1 “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?”

Focus Verse-1 Samuel 6.20

And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”

Insight-What we have here is a situation where both the Philistines and the Israelites are being confronted by the holiness of God.  God is not a god to be taken lightly.  Some of what God does in this chapter sounds harsh and unfair, but in the last few chapters we have seen that neither nation treated God with any manner of respect until they were confronted with the consequences of their actions.

This is where we can probably identify how their story is our story.  How often do we learn the hard way that we have not been taking God and His leadership seriously, so God allows us to experience the consequences of our rejection of His leadership.

Active Response-I want to live with a deep awareness of God’s holiness-His otherness.  God is completely above me and beyond me, yet He draws near to me and invites me to follow His loving leadership.

God, You are a holy, awesome God.  Forgive me for taking You lightly and not giving You the respect or honor that You deserve.  I choose to follow Your loving leadership and to worship You in Your holiness.  Amen.