He Exalts the Lowly

As we step into a new series in 1 Samuel, I want to invite you to do something a little different. Before we walk through it week by week, let’s zoom out and see the whole story. Not every detail, but the movement. The tension. The thread that holds it all together.

Because every story is driven by a question.

And the question underneath 1 Samuel is this: What kind of king do God’s people actually need?

But if you slow down and press a little deeper, there’s a more personal question sitting just beneath it. Will we trust God’s rule, or will we insist on our own?

From the very beginning, the book starts turning our expectations upside down. It opens quietly. Not with a throne or a display of power, but with Hannah. A woman marked by weakness, sorrow, and dependence. She has no platform and no leverage. What she has is a heart poured out before the Lord.

And right alongside her, you have Eli’s sons. Religious leaders. Visible. Influential. Positioned in the very place where the knowledge of God should be most clear. And yet the text says they did not know the Lord.

That contrast is not subtle.

One is humble and dependent.

The others are proud and entitled.

And God makes His posture unmistakably clear. “Those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Samuel 2:30).

That is not just a statement for that moment. It becomes the melody of the entire book.
As the story unfolds, that melody plays again and again. Israel rejects God as their king and asks for someone they can see. Someone like the nations. And God gives them Saul.

At first, Saul looks like the answer. He is strong. He stands out. He feels like the kind of leader people would naturally choose. But when pressure builds, his heart is revealed. He adjusts obedience. He listens to the voice of the people. He holds on to control when God has called him to trust.

And eventually, God rejects him. Not impulsively, but consistently. In line with what He has already said.

Then comes David.

He is not the obvious choice. In fact, he is overlooked at first. But God is not looking at the outside. He is looking at the heart. And what you see in David is different. Where Saul grasps, David waits. Where Saul manages outcomes, David entrusts himself to God.

And through his life, the pattern becomes clearer. God is not impressed with outward strength. He responds to humility.

Even David is not the end of the story.

He points forward to a better King. Jesus. The One who did not grasp for position, but humbled Himself fully. Even to the point of death on a cross.

And because of that, He was exalted.

So as we walk through 1 Samuel, listen for the melody.

God rejects the proud and establishes the humble through His chosen King.

And do not just study that truth. Let it press in on you.

Because this is not just about understanding a king. It is about bowing to one.