181. Honor the Honorers
1 Samuel 2:30 Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house and house of thy father should walk before me for ever; but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
This is a purely conditional promise: God promises to honor those that honor Him. If you honor me, then I will honor you. We honor God by believing in Him and turning to Him in repentance. Despising God is hating Him, and we hate God by ignoring Him by unbelief and neglecting to repent and receive forgiveness.
This prophecy is given to the young man Samuel regarding the High Priest Eli. Eli did not honor the Lord by allowing his sons, Hophni and Phineas, to do evil in their tabernacle service. They would be killed and Eli would die, and his priestly line would die out. The prophecy came true. The condition of the promise was not fulfilled: they did not honor the Lord, but they despised Him and His Word. Therefore, the Lord lightly esteemed Eli and his sons. The young Samuel had to deliver these hard words to Eli, which he did.
The embedded promise, however, is a principle that holds true for all of us: ”them that honor Me I will honor.” The premier example is David, who honored the Lord; he was a “man after the heart of the Lord.” Though David was a gross sinner, he honored the Lord in his heart by genuine faith and devotion. He sincerely repented of his sins and received forgiveness from a gracious God. He was restored again into God’s grace, but he suffered terrible consequences afterward for his sinful behavior. Nevertheless, God honored David as he honored God. The great Messianic prophecy was given to David that out of his descendants would come the Messiah. He would be born, live, die and rise again to become King of the eternal kingdom of God. He would rule God’s people forever. Thus did God honor the one who honored Him.
The Bible trots out a parade of godly men and women who honored the Lord, and God honored them. It is true that none of the great heroes of faith were sinless, but they all believed God, and He counted it to them as righteousness (a great honor). God is looking for men and women who are people after God’s heart. The honor He grants is not worldly honor, but it is honor in God’s esteem. This honor will become visible to the entire universe in eternity.
The wonderful truth of the promise is that each common believer in Christ is special to God and honored by the Lord. This special honor does not come just to those heroes of faith and men and women of God who have done great works. The honor for each believer is unique for that person. Christ is already honored with the highest place, and we are united with Him.