I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 4-7.

This passage shows us that it is not sufficient to call on God in our times of trouble.  We must also stop calling on other gods and serve only the Lord.  At the beginning of this passage the Israelites called on God and thought that by bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the battle God would have to give them victory.  However, it does not work that way.  We cannot force God to act according to our desires, we must act according to His will.  The Philistines learned a lesson we need to learn as well: just because we are successful does not mean we are doing the right thing.  The Philistines thought that capturing the Ark of the Covenant meant that their god(s) were more powerful than God.  God quickly disabused them of this notion.  After the return of the Ark to Israel, Samuel called on them to give up their idols and worship only the Lord.  The Israelites followed Samuel’s direction and he led them to victory over the Philistines.  We should note that while Samuel united the Israelites to follow God and to fight against the Philistines, he does not appear to have been their military leader.