Mon 78 - 1 Samuel 1–2 · Acts 5 · Psalm 120 - FeedTheGoodHorse
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Day 78: 1 Samuel 1–2 · Acts 5 · Psalm 120 · Commentary · Commentary² · Audio
The Bible text is included for reading continuity; it is accurate in substance, aligned with major modern translations, and may be read alongside any Bible you prefer.1
Special Note about the following Bible text: The following translation uses the Hebrew terms tamé (טָמֵא) and tahor (טָהוֹר) instead of the traditional “unclean” and “clean.” These terms describe ritual status in relation to sanctuary access, not moral fault, shame, or physical dirtiness. A fuller explanation will follow in a dedicated article.
1 Samuel 1-2 NLT - Bible Gateway
The above is a link to the NLT translation of the Bible for our Old Testament reading portion for this day 78. If it does not turn out you prefer the NLT translation our usual translation here, my translation will be posted here ASAP Monday 4.20.2026
Acts 5
But a man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. With his wife’s knowledge he kept back part of the proceeds, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the feet of the apostles.
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart for you to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain yours? And after it was sold, was it not under your authority? Why have you set this deed in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.”
When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. Great fear came upon all who heard of it. The younger men stood up, wrapped him, carried him out, and buried him.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter said to her, “Tell me, did you sell the land for this amount?”
She said, “Yes, for that amount.”
Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”
Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear came upon the whole assembly and upon all who heard these things.
Now many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles, and they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high regard. More than ever, believers in the Lord were being added, large numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and mats, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.
The crowd also came together from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those troubled by unclean spirits, and all of them were being healed.
Then the high priest rose up, and all who were with him—that is, the party of the Sadducees—and they were filled with jealousy. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in the public jail.
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.”
When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began teaching.
Now the high priest and those with him came and called together the council and the whole senate of the people of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers arrived, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, saying, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”
Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what this might lead to. Then someone came and reported to them, “Look, the men you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”
Then the captain went with the officers and brought them, but not by force, because they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
After bringing them, they stood them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly ordered you not to teach in this name, yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood on us.”
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than people. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a piece of wood. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and rescuer, to give a change of mind to Israel and forgiveness of wrongdoings. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. Then he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these people. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were scattered and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away people after him. He also perished, and all who followed him were scattered.
So now I tell you, keep away from these people and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is from people, it will be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.”
They were persuaded by him. So they called in the apostles, beat them, ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.
Then they went out from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to be dishonored for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Psalm 120
In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
Rescue my life, Lord,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.
What will he give you,
and what more will he do to you,
you deceitful tongue?
Sharp arrows of a warrior,
with burning coals of broom wood.
Woe to me,
that I live as a foreigner in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar.
Too long my life has dwelt
with those who hate peace.
I am for peace,
but when I speak,
they are for war.
Commentary - Day 78
1 Samuel 1–2 · Acts 5 · Psalm 120
Summary:
Year after year, Hannah walks the same road to Shiloh under taunting that follows her into worship itself. Her silent prayer is mistaken for disorder, yet her vow ties any future child to return rather than possession. When Samuel is finally brought and left, her song widens personal reversal into a pattern of lifting and lowering that reaches beyond the household. Nearby, Eli’s sons seize offerings before their proper order, feeding on what they should guard, and a warning rises against their line.
In Acts, another offering fractures under hidden reservation as Ananias and Sapphira present partial surrender as whole, and collapse follows exposure. Prison doors close but do not hold, and teaching resumes each day. The psalm gives voice to life among hostile speech, where peace is spoken into surroundings shaped by deception.
The household at Ramah begins with imbalance already present: two wives, one with children and one without, moving year after year along the same road to Shiloh. The repetition matters. The taunting is not momentary but seasonal, returning with each sacrifice, attaching itself to the place meant for worship. The distress follows Hannah into the tabernacle itself, where Eli sits at the entrance and watches her lips move without sound. What appears disorderly to him—silent movement, no audible prayer—is in fact deliberate speech directed beyond the visible audience. The misunderstanding is corrected not by spectacle but by persistence in explanation, and the vow she makes binds the hoped-for child to the very place of her humiliation. The gift requested is already promised away before it exists, tying birth to return rather than possession.
The fulfillment arrives without fanfare: conception, birth, naming, and then waiting. The delay until weaning holds the promise in suspension, and when the child is finally brought to Shiloh, he is not presented as proof but as fulfillment of obligation. The act of leaving the child at the tabernacle reverses the ordinary direction of care—what was received into the household is handed back into service. Immediately afterward, Hannah’s song rises, filled with reversals: bows broken, the weak strengthened, the hungry filled, the barren made fruitful. The language moves outward from her own situation into a pattern where strength and weakness trade places, where lifting and lowering belong to the same governing hand. The poem stretches beyond household conflict into the ordering of kings and nations, even before a king has appeared in Israel’s history.
While Samuel grows in the tabernacle, another pattern unfolds beside him. Eli’s sons handle the offerings as if they were personal entitlement, inserting forks into boiling meat and demanding portions before the fat is burned. The violence is quiet but systematic: taking before the proper sequence, claiming what has not yet been given. The priestly household that should guard the offering instead feeds upon it, and Eli’s rebuke lands without effect. A second voice then enters—the unnamed man of God—reaching back to the choice of Aaron and the promises attached to priesthood. The accusation centers not on ritual error alone but on misplaced honor: sons receiving priority over the offering itself. The warning closes with the promise of replacement, a future priest raised where neglect has settled in.
Acts continues with another act of giving that breaks under hidden reservation. Ananias and Sapphira place money at the apostles’ feet while holding back part of the proceeds. The property had remained under their authority until the moment of offering, yet the deception lies in presenting partial surrender as complete. The collapse that follows is immediate—first Ananias, then Sapphira—each falling upon exposure. The silence between the two deaths holds its own tension: three hours in which knowledge remains divided between participants. Afterward, the community grows in number but also in caution, marked by fear that does not disperse even as healings multiply in public spaces. Authority moves openly through streets and porticos, while opposition gathers within councils and prisons. Doors locked by officials stand open by morning, and teaching resumes in the same temple where arrest had been enforced. Persistence becomes visible through repetition: daybreak entry, daily proclamation, instruction that does not retreat under warning.
The psalm gives voice to life among hostile speech. Lying lips and deceitful tongues form the surrounding atmosphere, while the speaker identifies as dwelling among those who hate peace. The language does not dissolve conflict but holds it in tension: arrows and burning coals stand beside the simple declaration of longing for peace. The setting remains unsettled, foreign, stretched across territories named Meshech and Kedar, places associated with distance and estrangement. Speech itself becomes contested ground—words aimed as weapons, while the speaker continues to answer distress by calling outward rather than retreating inward.
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