SOVEREIGNTY IN FIRST SAMUEL
Several years past I was reading First Samuel and began to notice the number of times the events that are recorded are asserted to be the doing of God. I began to jot down each reference. Listed below is the result of that reading and subsequent readings. No claim is made that all the reflections of God’s Sovereignty in First Samuel are listed, but the majority are.
1:5 “although Yahweh had closed her womb”
1:19 “and Yahweh remembered her”; and Hannah conceived and bore a son”
1:27 “Yahweh granted me my petition which I asked of Him”
2:3 “Yahweh is the God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed”
2:6 “Yahweh kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up”
2:7 “Yahweh makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up”
2:8 “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them
among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory”
2:8 “For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh’s and He has set the world upon them”
2:9 “He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness”
2:10 “The adversaries of Yahweh shall be broken in pieces; from heaven He will thunder
against them. Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth”
2:10 “He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed”
2:25 “If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against Yahweh,
who will intercede for him”
2:25 “Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because Yahweh desired
to kill them”
2:27 “Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt
in Pharaoh’s house”
2:28 “Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon
My altar to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give
to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire”
2:31 “Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s
house, so that there will not be an old man in your house”
2:35 “Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is
in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk
before My anointed forever”
3:4 “Yahweh called Samuel”
3:6 “Yahweh called yet again”
3:8 “and Yahweh called Samuel again the third time”
3:10 “Now Yahweh came and stood and called as at other times”
3:11-13“Then Yahweh said to Samuel: Behold, I will do something in Israel . . . I will perform
. . . all that I have spoken . . . from beginning to end . . . I will judge his house
forever”
3:14 “And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house
shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever”
3:19 “So Samuel grew, and Yahweh was with him and let none of his words fall
to the ground”
3:21 “Then Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh. For Yahweh revealed Himself to Samuel in
Shiloh by the word of Yahweh”
4:3 “Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines”
5:6 “But the hand of Yahweh was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them
and struck them with tumors”
5:9 “the hand of Yahweh was against the city with a great destruction; and He struck the
men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them”
5:11 “For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very
heavy there”
6:19 “Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark
of Yahweh. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people,
and the people lamented because Yahweh had struck the people
with a great slaughter”
7:9 “and Yahweh answered him”
7:10 “But Yahweh thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so
confused them that they were overcome before Israel”
7:13 “And the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel”
8:8 “since the day I brought them up out of Egypt”
8:18 “Yahweh will not hear you in that day”
8:22 “So Yahweh said to Samuel, ‘Heed their voice, and make them a king’ ”
9:15 “Yahweh had told Samuel . . . tomorrow . . . I will send you a man”
9:17 “Yahweh said to him, ‘there he is, the man of whom I spoke to you’ ”
10:6 “then the Spirit of Yahweh will come upon you, and you will prophesy”
10:9 “God gave him another heart”
10:10 “then the Spirit of God came upon him”
10:18 “Thus says Yahweh God of Israel: ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt and delivered you
from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all kingdoms and from those
who oppressed you’ ”
10:22 “and Yahweh answered, ‘there he is, hidden among the equipment’ ”
10:26 “whose heart God had touched”
11:6 “then the Spirit of God came upon Saul”
11:7 “the fear of Yahweh fell on the people”
11:13 “today Yahweh has accomplished salvation in Israel” (Saul credits God with the victory
over the Ammonites)
12:6 “It is Yahweh who raised up Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up
from the land of Egypt”
12:7 “concerning all the righteous acts of Yahweh which He did to you and your fathers”
12:8 “Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made
them dwell in this place”
12:9 “He sold them into the hand of Sisera . . . into the hand of the Philistines . . . and into
the hand of the king of Moab”
12:11 “And Yahweh sent . . . and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every
side; and you dwelt in safety”
12:13 “Yahweh has set a king over you”
12:15 “if you do not obey the voice of Yahweh . . . then the hand of Yahweh will be against
you”
12:18 “and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day”
12:22 “it has pleased Yahweh to make you His people”
13:13 “Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever”
13:14 “Yahweh has sought for Himself a man after His own heart”
14:6 “it may be that Yahweh will work for us; for nothing restrains Yahweh from saving
by many or by few”
14:12 “come up after me, for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel”
14:23 “so Yahweh saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven”
14:37 “so Saul asked counsel of God, but He did not answer him that day”
15:1 “Yahweh sent me to anoint you king over His people”
15:2 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel’”
15:18 “now Yahweh sent you on a mission”
15:26 “Yahweh has rejected you from being king of Israel”
16:1 “I have rejected him from reigning over Israel . . . I have provided Myself a king
among his sons”
16:12 “and Yahweh said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!’”
16:13 “the Spirit of Yahweh came upon David from that day forward”
16:14 “the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul”
16:14 “a distressing spirit from Yahweh troubled him”
16:23 “whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul”
17:37 “Yahweh who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear,
He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine”
18:10 “the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul”
18:12 “Now Saul was afraid of David, because Yahweh was with him, but had departed
from Saul”
18:14 “and Yahweh was with him”
18:28 “Saul saw and knew that Yahweh was with David”
19:5 “Yahweh brought about a great deliverance for all Israel”
19:9 “the distressing spirit from Yahweh came upon Saul”
19:20 “the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul”
19:23 “the Spirit of God was upon him also”
20:13 “And Yahweh be with you as He has been with my father”
20:42 “May Yahweh be between you and me, and between your descendants and my
descendants forever”
21:7 “a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Yahweh”
22:3 “till I know what God will do for me”
23:2 “And Yahweh said to David, ‘Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah’”
23:4 “Yahweh answered him and said, ‘. . . I will deliver the Philistines into your hand’”
23:11 “Yahweh said, ‘he will come down’”
23:12 “Yahweh said, ‘they will deliver you’”
23:14 “God did not deliver him into his hand”
24:12 “Let Yahweh judge between you and me, and let Yahweh avenge me on you”
24:15 “therefore let Yahweh be judge, and judge between you and me, and see
and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand”
24:20 “may Yahweh reward you with good for what you have done to me this day”
25:28 “Yahweh will certainly make for my lord an enduring house”
25:30 “when Yahweh has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken
concerning you”
25:31 “when Yahweh has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant”
25:32 “Blessed is Yahweh God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me”
25:38 “Yahweh struck Nabal, and he died”
25:39 “Yahweh has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head”
26:8 “God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day”
26:10 “As Yahweh lives, Yahweh shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he
shall go out to battle and perish”
26:12 “a deep sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them”
28:6 “when Saul inquired of Yahweh, Yahweh did not answer him”
28:16 “Yahweh has departed from you and has become your enemy”
28:17 “Yahweh has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David”
28:18 “Yahweh has done this thing to you this day”
28:19 “Yahweh will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines”
28:19 “Yahweh will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines”
30:8 “And He answered him, ‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail
recover all’ ”
30:23 “you shall not do so with what Yahweh has given us, who has preserved us
and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us”
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