Then King David went \{to the Holy Tent\} and sat before the Lord. David said, “Lord God, you have done so much for me and my family. And I don’t understand why.
You have been very kind to me. You did many good things for me. The first time I traveled across the Jordan River, I owned nothing—only my walking stick. But now I own enough things to have two full groups.
Then King David went in and sat in front of the Lord. David said, “Lord, my Master, why am I so important to you? Why is my family important? Why have you made me so important?
Hezekiah received the letters from the messengers and read them. Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple [236] and laid the letters out in front of the Lord.
All these things didn’t come\par from me and my people!\par All these things come from you.\par We are only giving back to you\par things that came from you.\par
But God helped me, and he is still helping me today. With God’s help I am standing here today and telling all people the things I have seen. But I am saying nothing new. I am saying the same things that Moses and the prophets {\cf2\super [498]} said would happen.
I am the least important of all of God’s people. But God gave me this gift—to tell the non-Jewish people the Good News about the riches Christ has. Those riches are too great to understand fully.
But Gideon answered and said, “Pardon me, sir. How can I save Israel? My family is the weakest in the family group of Manasseh. And I am the youngest one in my family.”
After this, Samuel set up a special stone. {He did this to help people remember the things God did.} Samuel put the stone between Mizpah and Shen. [87] Samuel named the stone “Stone of Help.” [88] Samuel said, “The Lord helped us all the way to this place!”
Saul answered, “But I am a member of the family group of Benjamin. It is the smallest family group in Israel. And my family is the smallest in the family group of Benjamin. Why do you say Israel wants me?”