1 Samuel 2:6 Commentary and Bible Study

As you go through these verses, you can see that in some cases they are literally true; in many cases they are figuratively true, but they are always spiritually true. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. There are some cases where somebody is so unwell, they are as good as dead, and the Lord raises them up again. Then figuratively we know trials and difficulties and heartaches, which might seem to put an end to us, and the Lord delivers us through those trials. But then spiritually we are brought to see that we are dead and doomed and condemned by sin, and then we are brought to life in Christ, and new birth. ‘The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up.’ It is a great principle. It's pursued in these verses: that God's delight, and his strange work and his special pleasure is to work through lowly people, and use them and lift them up, and put down the proud and the people who are self-reliant, trusting in themselves. ‘He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill.’ It may be true literally in many cases, but it's true always in the spiritual sphere. ‘To set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.’ Isn't that chiefly true, spiritually: the way Christ works lifting us up from the depths and from the gutter, and making us princes in the kingdom of Christ. ‘For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them.’ The entrance of sin into the world has not caused God to lose control of it. He still has a plan, and his plan is on track. Satan has not outwitted the Lord, but events will proceed in a way that exposes the weakness and foolishness of sin, and the wisdom and power of God. The confidence of the saints continues to be in the government of God.