May the mumbling commence!
In 1 Samuel 12, Samuel hands over the reins of leadership to Saul. Samuel asked the people for any grievances that people had against him, and they said they had no grievances with him. The Lord stood as witness between them. In turn, Samuel became a witness for the Lord and the mighty acts that He performed for Israel. He spoke specifically of the ministry that the Lord did through Moses and Aaron, bringing the people out of slavery in Egypt and of the ministry that the Lord accomplished through Gideon and Jephthah and himself, delivering the people from false worship.
Indeed, the Lord had cared for Israel. But Israel remembered none of it when King Nahash came to conquer them. They asked for a human king, even though the Lord had been their King. In fact, the bottom line is that the Lord is STILL King. Israel, including the king, must fear the Lord, serve the Lord, and obey the Lord. Change was only happening on the surface level and only by the wish of Israel. Samuel told them what they asked for was evil, and they cowered in fear. Read their exchange from 1 Samuel 12:19-25 –
All the people said to Samuel, "Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of demanding a king for ourselves."
And Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; and do not turn aside after useless things that cannot profit or save, for they are useless. For the Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord, and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king."
Samuel first told them the most repeated commands of Scripture “Do not be afraid.” Though they had done evil, God allowed U-turns. Though we do evil, God STILL allows U-turns. From this point on, serve the Lord with all your heart. Even when we break covenant with God, the Lord cannot break covenant with us – for God promised the covenant to us on His name, of which there is none greater.
Israel had asked Samuel to pray for them. Samuel’s response should inform our prayer lives. “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.” There are two important concepts for us to learn from. One, to refuse to pray for our brothers and sister in Christ is a sin against the Lord. Our prayer life augments our relationships both with our Lord and with the people around us. Prayer helps us to wait for God’s timing in all things. While our timing may never happen, God’s timing will always happen – just not when we might wish it to happen or the why we would like it to happen.
Yet, hope is the catalyst to buoy our prayer life. The second thing we learn from Samuel is that to refuse to pray for the people would mean stopping. Samuel was in constant prayer for Israel. May you and I pray unceasingly as well – like the Apostle Paul told us to (Eph 6:18-20).
And our prayer life with inform both our learning and our teaching. Samuel promised Israel to teach them the way that is good. He then told them to fear the Lord and serve the Lord with all their heart. This reverent fear and service is built upon the memory of what the Lord has done for them. As all good teaching, this teaching has not expired. This teaching still stands for us today.
We need this teaching when the going gets rough and the timing of the Lord seems late in coming. Think about Saul’s downfall. As the Philistines gathered around him for battle, Saul thought Israel needed the blessing of the Lord before the battle. Samuel was late in coming, so Saul acted foolishly and took the role of priest that was not his. Saul sacrificed the burnt and fellowship offerings. It cost his family the throne.
God, help me be patient when my version of the Philistines surrounds me. Help me to wait upon the Lord – waiting is a great service to do unto our Lord. Otherwise, I may turn aside to do foolish things, just like Saul.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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