1 Sam 1:17, Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him." 
Last week, we spent some time with a very short introduction to 1 and 2 Samuel. Then we began to consider the passage before us. Sadly, through repetitious habit, the phraseology has become a standard statement within the culture of wishing peace upon one another, as we would say “God bless you” when someone sneezes. However, when it was voiced in this passage, it meant something very real and precise in the context of being embedded into scripture. The Lord set this passage, and in fact every verse in the Bible, here with great precision and forethought. It was fully intended as spoken with supreme regard to what was being pronounced upon the person. 
When we considered how Hannah cried out to The Lord in her barren grief and bitterness of soul, we saw that it was this response of the Lord voiced through the Judge and Priest Eli which allowed her the actual peace that she was craving. Her entire demeanor and attitude and behavior was transformed due to the actual peace which then indwelled her heart and mind. She left the temple with the complete assurance that God had heard her cries and He was going to grant her earnest petition for a son.
We now proceed to another person who needed the peace of God in terms of what to do. We witness the brotherhood between Jonathan and David which was so intensely threatened by the hatred and jealousy that King Saul had for this shepherd boy. Jonathan realized that his father would kill his best friend, so the warning went forth by the arrow that Jonathan shot. As they were parting for the very last time, we hear the word beneficently spoken by Jonathan to his friend. This is recorded in 1 Sam 20:42. 
1 Sam 20:42, And Jonathan said to David, "Go in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, 'The Lord will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.'" Then he rose and departed, while Jonathan went into the city. 
David was assured of the safety or peace, as most translations have it, that would remain between him and Jonathan. Although Saul was seeking to destroy this declared next king of Israel, Jonathan had no such desires. There would be only a continual engagement in seeking the betterment and the restoration of one with that other, although the actuality of that hope would never come to be. As much as these two would cherish their friendship, they would not be able to have it restored. Jonathan actually had to die in order for the monarchy to be turned over to David. This was in battle alongside his father. It was because the line of Saul could not be set against the new lineage that God was establishing in David’s heritage. 
On the basis of their brotherly love, they were able to depart from one another in the full assurance that they would always deal with each other in peace and in kindness. There was nothing to fear from the other in either the sense of seeking to destroy or even disparage the other. There was a peaceful resolution to an impossible situation that could only be delivered by the Hand of Adonai in operation. 
Next, we find the manner of the hatred and the curses of Nabal against David and his men. This account is recorded in the 25th Chapter of 1 Samuel. David’s men had been protecting Nabal and his flocks and his home. Rather than gratitude, all that they received from Nabal was abuse and vileness. David was set to destroy the whole household of Nabal, if not for the wise and straightforward intervention of Nabal’s wife, Abigail. Verses 32-35 recount the interaction of David with Abigail.
1 Sam 25:32-35, Then David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed, and from avenging myself by my own hand. Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male." So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, "Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request." 
In the course of Abigail watching out for the interests of her household as well as the men who had been the protectors and guardians of all that Nabal possessed, she showed the prudence that garnered such a response from David. The Lord used this godly wife to subdue the anger that had welled up in David, thus preventing him from the bloodshed of a fellow member of the people of God. Abigail, as well as David, were enabled by God, to depart this situation in the foundational reality of the peace of God reigning and preventing a violent tragedy that would have haunted David the rest of his life.
Another such situation, which kept David in the peace of the Lord, is detailed in 1 Samuel 29. David was willing to go with the Philistines to fight against the Israelites. The Philistines had given protection to David and his men for many years. David so felt obliged to help these men who had been his protectors in a looming battle against the Israelites. He was willing to kill his own countrymen at this point in his life to show honor to those who had taken him in from his flight from Saul. However, the Lord had something else in mind for this young David. 
As we read in 1 Sam 29:6+7, much as David would have gone into the battle on the side of the Philistines, he was not trusted by them and not wanted within their armies. The lords of the Philistines were afraid that David would turn against them in the midst of the battle. So, rather than fight against both, the Philistines, moved by the Hand of God, told David to leave them. The key, to this whole passage, however, is that David was to leave them in peace.
1 Sam 29:6+7, Then Achish called David and said to him, "As the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords. Now therefore return, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines." 
God took him out of this battle against his own people in a way in which it could not have otherwise happened. He was miraculously delivered from a situation that was totally incorrigible. He was willing to lay down his life in battle alongside the enemies of the People of the Lord. Keep in mind that this was the one whom God had chosen to eventually be the King of the Israelites. Consider how the fact of his fighting and killing his own people would have assaulted that claim to be the king of these Tribes of Israel? 
As well, the lords of the Philistines could have attacked him and his men as enemies since they were obviously in great fear of his betrayal. This was a no win situation for David, and yet the Lord intervened and he was removed from the whole untenable circumstance and it was done with the peace of God surrounding him. 
We will next consider the Captain of the army of the King of Aram, Naaman, as recounted in 2 Kings Chapter 5. Here was a man who was practiced in the actions of war and destruction. He was a brave and valiant warrior. He feared no man and no god of the nations. The only issue was that he was a leper and fighting the losing battle of his life. The Hebrew slave girl of his wife mentioned the Prophet Elisha in Israel as a means of dealing with this terrible affliction. Naaman received permission from his master to go to find this prophet and he did so. 
When Namaan was told to simply wash in the Jordan seven times, he became indignant. He was used to fighting great battles and doing feats of honor and daring. To merely lower himself into the dirty waters of the Jordan was an affront to his dignity. Namaan stormed away in anger and disgust, having wasted a long and arduous journey for such a pitiful outcome. 
On that return journey, he was encouraged to put away his anger and his frustration and simply do what the prophet had instructed. He had nothing to lose except the illness. In humble submission, Naaman dipped into the waters of the Jordan seven times and was healed. He then quickly returned to Elisha with every intention to reward the prophet for the cleansing of this leprosy. We pick up at verse 15, reading through verse 19.
2 Kings 5:15-19, When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, "Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now." But he said, "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will take nothing." And he urged him to take it, but he refused. And Naaman said, "If not, please let your servant at least be given two mules' load of earth; for your servant will no more offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter." And he said to him, "Go in peace." So he departed from him some distance. 
Notice that Naaman recognized that the God of Israel was the only true God in all the earth. There was none but Jehovah. He asked a special dispensation of the Prophet and of the Lord in terms of how he would now be setting forth his praise and adoration to Jehovah. Although Naaman would be taken by his master to worship in the pagan temple of Rimmon, his heart would be offering praise to the Lord God Almighty. He had no option other than the forced entrance into the house of Rimmon with his master. However Namaan would be offering sacrifices and worship to Jehovah, not Rimmon. There was no Temple of the Lord in his homeland, so his quandary was would the Lord receive the worship and the adoration of Naaman, even as offered in that place built in honor of the false god, Rimmon? Elisha told him …"Go in peace." 
Consider the fact that this gentile was healed by the Lord. This captain of the army of Aram was as special to the Lord as any of the Hebrew children. The Lord saw fit to heal him, so who was it that could argue with him when he wanted to worship the Lord in the only manner open to him. Elisha assuaged any guilt and any fear of Naaman being upsetting to the Lord in this matter by declaring the peace of God upon him. This was an extraordinary means of God showing that His grace and His mercy and His Lovingkindness has no limitation in all the earth.
…"Go in peace." That is what everyone on this earth wants to hear and to know. It may not be fully verbalized. It may not be completely understood. It may not be recognized for what it really and absolutely is, but there is that earnest craving and need in every man, woman, and child for the peace that surpasses all understanding. 
The Psalmist highlighted the means of this peace for those people of the Old Testament in Ps 20. In the light of Jesus Christ, this is all the more the flowing forth of our need for God to rule and overrule in our lives this very day. There is that same echo of being pleasing to the Lord in this Psalm that was voiced and acknowledged by Naaman.
Ps 20, May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high! May He send you help from the sanctuary, And support you from Zion! May He remember all your meal offerings, And find your burnt offering acceptable! Selah. May He grant you your heart's desire, And fulfill all your counsel! We will sing for joy over your victory, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven, With the saving strength of His right hand. Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stood upright. Save, O Lord; May the King answer us in the day we call. 
What greater peace can we have in our lives than that which is established and maintained by the wondrous and glorious Hand of God? We see Him working and ruling and overruling in lives, as indicated in the accounts of Hannah, and Moses, and David, and Naaman, and so many countless others throughout the Old Testament. That is one of the joys of reading this Word of God together. We witness how God moved the hearts of people and nations and held the universe in place in order to show forth the reality of Who He is and all that He has done!
This brings us immediately into the New Testament. We will consider two accounts of women who were brought into the peace of God through the mighty and wondrous working of the Only Begotten Son of God, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 
The first account is set in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 5. We have the crowds pressing against Jesus in order to receive whatever measure of miraculous endeavor He might show them. In the midst of all the pushing and crowding and yelling, a woman, who had been ill for twelve years, having received no help from any of the physicians, having spent all that she had, simply reached out and touched His cloak. 
Jesus sensed the power flow through to this woman. He wanted to see who had touched Him. As indicated in Mark 5:32-34, she made a full confession of having reached out to touch Him for healing.
Mark 5:32-34, And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." 
Notice how Jesus eased both her suffering and her anxiety by pronouncing His peace upon her. She was healed and she was able to leave that place with no guilt or shame for having reached out to touch the One Who could and would heal her. She was fully cognizant that she had been released from her sin and shame by the very Son of God, and that brought complete peace into her being.
The second and final account of this morning is found in Luke 7:44-50. Here we have the story of loving adoration heaped upon the Lord Jesus Christ. This was by a weeping woman as she anointed Him with the expensive oil and the tears of her adoration. She was hurting in all the recognition of her sin and shame and she knew that only Jesus could save her. Accordingly she lavished upon Him the complete love that could only proceed forth from one in the direst of need to extol and worship the Savior of her life.
Luke 7:44-50, And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." And He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." 
This is the peace that everyone on this earth is searching for and needs with the full essence of our beings. We all need to hear Jesus say to us …"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." 
What joy and accolades of worship and adoration and tears of praise and reverence are there in our hearts unto the Lord God Almighty? Do we put forth everything that we have, no matter what the cost to proclaim His Worthiness and His Honor and His Praise? Are we truly thankful to know the peace that Jesus freely gives to those who seek Him? That is the essence of what it means to go in peace. So be it!
Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him." Amen.

This morning’s benediction is 1 Sam 2:2. "There is no one holy like the Lord, Indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there any rock like our God. Amen.