1 Samuel 2:30 Why the LORD God of Israel said, I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me for ever… Concerning the moral attitude assumed by men toward God, which is here described, observe - I. THAT IT IS PLAINLY OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE. "Me." Our relation to others is a light thing compared with what it is to him. This is everything; and knowledge, power, riches, reputation, etc. nothing. 1. Because of his nature ("There is none holy as the Lord"), his government (moral, supreme, universal), and his claims. 2. It is the effectual test of our character, what we are really and essentially. 3. It is the principal means of forming and strengthening it. What are we in his sight? What does he think of me? II. THAT IT IS NECESSARILY ONE OR OTHER OF TWO KINDS. "Honour me." "Despise me." 1. Honour; by reverence (the fundamental principle of the religious life), trust, prayer, obedience, fidelity, living to his glory. 2. Despise; by forgetfulnesss, unbelief, self-will, pride, selfishness, disobedience, sin of every kind. 3. There is no other alternative. "For me or against me" (Exodus 32:26; Jeremiah 8:1; Matthew 6:24; Matthew 7:13, 14; Matthew 12:30). III. THAT IT IS ALWAYS FOLLOWED BY CORRESPONDING CONSEQUENCES. "I will honour." "Shall be lightly esteemed." 1. Honour; by his friendship, appointment to honourable service, giving success therein, open acknowledgment before men here and hereafter. "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 2. Lightly esteemed; by himself, men, angels, despised even by themselves, and cast away among the vile. "He that sayeth his life shall lose it." 3. There is a strict correspondence between character and consequences, both generally and particularly, in kind and measure. And the joy and misery of the future will be the consummation and the ripened fruit of what now exists (Galatians 6:7). IV. THAT ITS CONNECTION WITH ITS CONSEQUENCES IS ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN. Men often think otherwise. But "be not deceived." Consider - 1. The natural constitution and tendencies of things, as ordained by him who is "above all, and in all, and through all." 2. The recorded and observed facts of life. 3. The express declarations of him "who cannot lie." "I will honour." "They shall be lightly esteemed." - D. Parallel Verses KJV: Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. |
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