Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, October 19, 2025
by Rev. Dr. Miles Hopgood, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: God’s activity in history does not conform to human judgment or expectation. But neither does God’s judgment of us, which results in unearned love.
In her book, Are You Alone Wise? The Search for Certainty in the Early Modern Era, the historian Susan Schreiner examines points of connection between the theological currents of the Reformation and early modern literature. Her study shows how both theology and the arts were occupied with a concern over self-deception resulting from the disconnect between appearance and reality. While Martin Luther and other reformers struggled to establish a firm ground for Christian faith absent the magisterial authority of the Roman papacy, Shakespeare’s Hamlet opines that “one may smile, and smile, and be a villain,” and his witches open Macbeth chanting that “fair is foul and foul is fair,” for example. Schreiner’s work serves as a reminder that we are not the first to be troubled by disinformation and fake news, and that the quest for certainty is a timeless one, which manifests in each age.
Samuel’s ministry as a prophet is defined by uncertainty about what God is doing. It may be helpful for your listeners to remind them how Samuel received his own calling, being woken by the voice of God in the night and confusing it with his master, Eli. He was instrumental to the rise of Saul as king, who was himself a surprising choice, coming from the least notable tribe of Benjamin. But what Samuel faces now is the most unnerving thing of all: God rejecting Saul as king, when it was God who first chose him! What’s more, Samuel had called Saul to repentance, and Saul repented, and yet God did not relent in regretting making Saul king. And now, God calls Samuel out of his grief over Saul to anoint a new, unexpected king. While the narrative lectionary wants us to focus on the unexpectedness of God selecting David as a king, setting this moment within the life and ministry of Samuel more broadly directs us to the larger question of certainty about God’s activity which hangs over the reading and, of course, our lives as well.
Inviting your listeners into the uncertainty which surrounds Samuel’s ministry will not lead to an easy answer. There is no version of “let go and let God” to be found here. This is because questions, doubts, worries—all these are a part of what it means to be in the presence of God at work. When we become comfortable with our own uncertainty, we can receive the comfort that it is not our certainty which saves us. As Paul says, “What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means!” (Romans 3:3-4). Our uncertainty does not nullify the certainty with which God has named us and claimed us as our own. Allowing our doubts to become impediments to our life with God is an overestimation of our ability to define who God is for us. Embrace uncertainty when it comes, trusting that God has already overcome it and so much more in Christ.
