“But when they arose early in the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the Ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.”
-1 Samuel 5:4
I love this verse. This picture of the Ark of the Covenant being housed by the Philistines, and when they wake up in the morning, and they go into the place where they have left the Ark of the Covenant, there is this false god among the Philistines, Dagon, who is face downward on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon is cut off, and his hands are cut off. Only his trunk is left. What a picture of the truth, the reality, that there is no god, little g god, like capital G God. All the gods of the nations are idols and one God reigns over them all. And one day, all the idols of this world, and every single person in this world, will bow down to God.
Help us to spread the Good News about who you are and what you have done to people around us and the world.
1 Samuel 5:4 Declares God Reigns
Sometimes people say, “I’ve decided to make Jesus Lord,” when the reality is we don’t really have a choice in the matter. Jesus is Lord. He is God. Period. Capital G God, capital L Lord, and one day every knee will bow before him and confess this reality. The question is will we confess him as Lord now, or will we confess him as Lord when it’s too late? 1 Samuel 5:4 is a reminder to us all in a way that leads us to pray to the one God who reigns over all. So, let’s pray.
Lord, there is none like you. You alone are God, and we worship you. All the gods of the nations are idols. They are deaf and mute. They have no power. So, God, we pray that you would keep us from all idolatry. Keep us from worshiping anyone or anything apart from you, from giving our affections or our devotion, for putting our trust in anyone or anything apart from you. You alone are worthy of all of our affections.
1 Samuel 5:4 Reminds Us God Alone is Worthy
We want to love you with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. You alone are worthy of our devotion. You alone are worthy of our trust. We don’t trust in anyone, anything in this world apart from trust in you. You are our ultimate trust. You are God. Lord, you are supreme. We worship you alone. We surrender our lives to you alone. Help us to live with loving, radical, risk-taking, death-defying obedience, all-out obedience, to you alone. For you alone are God, and use our lives to make your supremacy known in the world.
1 Samuel 5:4 Leads Us to Spread the Gospel
Help us to spread the Good News about who you are and what you have done to people around us and peoples around the world. God, we pray so often on this podcast for unreached people groups. God, 7000 of them who are worshiping false gods right now, and nobody’s even told them that Jesus is God. Nobody’s even told them the Gospel. They’re unreached by the Good News of your greatness and your supremacy. Lord Jesus, we pray that you would change that and use our lives, and our families, and our churches to change that. Help us to make disciples of all the nations, that all the nations might know that Jesus is God.
We pray all of this according to this glorious picture of your supremacy in 1 Samuel 5:4. In the name of Jesus, the one and only God, we pray. Amen.
View the 2021 McLean Bible Church Reading Plan.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
