“And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let Him do what seemeth Him good.” 
(1st Samuel 3:18)

Eli sought to know what the LORD had said to Samuel, and the young lad held nothing back in setting before him those things God had spoken. He did not change the message, soften it or water it down. The LORD had disclosed to Samuel that He would judge the house of Eli because of the vileness of his family. His sons taught the people contrary to the Word of the LORD and lived in willful rebellion against divine law, which behaviour Eli was well aware of and allowed to continue.

Notice the attitude of Eli when Samuel spoke to him about the message he received. “It is the LORD: let Him do what seemeth Him good.” Eli recognized the sovereign right of Yahweh to do all His pleasure. God will do that which pleases Him and opposition to His absolute authority is senseless and futile. The LORD is righteous and just in all His ways. When He punishes iniquity, it is in accordance with His justice; and when He is gracious, that must also be in accordance with His justice. All that He does for His people in salvation – forgiveness, acceptance, justification – must be done in a manner that is consistent with His holy character.

Do not think that the salvation of sinners required God to lower His standard of perfection and set aside the requirements of His law that demanded death for sin. Justice and truth are not compromised when He pours out His mercy upon the undeserving; they are honoured and magnified in the substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, the Surety, Representative and Substitute of His people.

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

“Propitiation” is literally, mercy seat, and sets before us the satisfaction or appeasement of divine justice. Christ Jesus, by giving His life a ransom for many, satisfied the demands of the law, put away the sins of His people and brought in everlasting righteousness. Yes, God is right when He saves and He is right when He condemns. “It is the LORD: let Him do what seemeth Him good.”