Pundayschool · Passage · Old Testament

1 Samuel: devotionals and study guides

The book that opens with a boy hearing his name called in the night and closes with a shepherd anointed king. Pundayschool has landed here twice so far: once on staying in the quiet, once on what God is actually looking at.

2 passages covered · 1 Samuel 3:10, 1 Samuel 16:7 · free devotionals and study guides

In short

1 Samuel tells the story of Israel's move from judges to kings, including young Samuel's call, Saul's rise and rejection, and David's anointing. Pundayschool has covered two passages so far: 1 Samuel 3:10, "speak, for your servant is listening," in the episode The Emergency Exit From Silence, about staying in the quiet instead of fleeing it; and 1 Samuel 16:7, "people look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart," in the episode The Hand-Raise Calibration, about worship nobody was ever grading. Both come with a free devotional and small group study guide.

The passage

Episode 24 · 1 Samuel 3:10

The Emergency Exit From Silence

Some of us love a quiet time with God, right up until it gets quiet. The reading part goes great. Last verse. Amen. Then the room goes silent, and silence, apparently, is an emergency. The kettle needs us. The laundry needs us. The snack cupboard needs a complete inventory, for safety reasons. I'm not avoiding God; I'm hydrating spiritually. That face-down book is a conversation left mid-sentence. A boy once heard God's voice in the night and did not get up and put a kettle on. So borrow Samuel's ending: next amen, stay in the chair. Give the silence one minute.

Read the devotional Open the study guide

Episode 18 · 1 Samuel 16:7

The Hand-Raise Calibration

During worship, some of us are not really singing. We are measuring: waist height, then shoulder, then ear, matching the person beside us to the centimeter. Then the person on our other side goes full stretch, so we solemnly hold our hand exactly halfway between them. Perfect. Nobody will notice us at all. But nobody in that row was grading us, and the only audience that ever mattered was never looking at our arm. Then 1 Samuel lands the correction: people look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart, the one thing in the room we forgot to lift.

Read the devotional Open the study guide

Two passages so far. With 31 chapters to choose from, this series will be back in this book again; new 1 Samuel episodes will be filed on this page.

Verses to hold

"The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!' Then Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant is listening.'"

1 Samuel 3:10, NIV

"People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7, NIV

Questions people ask

What is the book of 1 Samuel about?

1 Samuel tells the story of Israel's move from judges to kings: the boy Samuel called by God in the night, Israel's demand for a king, Saul's rise and rejection, and David's anointing while still a shepherd. It is a book about who God actually calls and chooses, and how differently that looks from how people would have picked.

How does The Emergency Exit From Silence use 1 Samuel 3:10?

The episode pictures a mascot who finishes a quiet time and then treats the silence afterward like an emergency, fleeing to the kettle, the laundry, and the snack cupboard. 1 Samuel 3:10 lands as the correction: young Samuel, called in the night, does not get up to tidy anything first, he just stays in the quiet and answers.

How does The Hand-Raise Calibration use 1 Samuel 16:7?

The episode turns the verse into a small, funny picture: a worshipper who spends a whole song reading and matching the hand height of the people beside them instead of actually engaging with God. 1 Samuel 16:7 lands as the correction: the outward reading was never what was being watched.