I have been reading 1 Samuel recently, and I want to offer some brief comments on what I read today in chapter 12.
First, earlier in 1 Samuel the people ask for a king. That does not sound terribly bad at first, but it is very clear from a reading of 1 Samuel that it is actually wicked. It is an evil thing with consequences that they have asked for a king. The surrounding nations had kings that led them and went to battle for them, and the Israelites became jealous. God was their king, and God fought their battles, but I guess they wanted a more manageable, normal, understandable kind of situation. God is free, and he is love, but he is fierce and at times unpredictable.
So God tells Samuel that Israel can have a king. After all, they were really rejecting God and not Samuel. But God does have Samuel warn them about what having a king will entail... taxes and oppression and unpleasant things. After Saul has been anointed and wins a battle, Samuel addresses the people again, and that brings us to 1 Samuel 12, which is where I was reading today:
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 empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake 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. (verses 20-25)
Observations
1. This sequence resonates with my depraved heart: "Fear not. You have done evil. But serve the Lord with all your heart." Samuel and God do not mince words or ignore the evil we have done. They call it like it is. But this is followed immediately by an exhortation to give the Lord your heart! Oh, how sweet are the words, even of a command, as they come to one who has felt the depths of his sin and feels hopeless.
2. All things when they are separated from God - when they are pursued or trusted apart from God - are empty. They cannot profit me; they are not worth it compared to Jesus; they are loss. They cannot deliver; dead idols cannot themselves give life to dead hearts; for the condition we are in, we need a Savior and a deliverer; Jesus is that deliverer alone. To him be all glory!
3. God's not forsaking his people is rooted in his acting for his great name's sake. God does not act toward us in love because we are lovable. He acts toward us in love because he is God! It is his nature and person and work that are magnified and on display here, not ours.
4. God is pleased... We serve an abundantly happy God. He is a God who takes pleasure in doing good to those who delight in him.
5. God is pleased to make the Israelites a people. As gentiles, we have also become part of the people of God. God is happy to put us into community. There is an individual component to salvation, of course, but there is also a glorious community aspect to it. Thanks be to him that we are not lone rangers, but that we have been given to each other in the Body.
6. I sin against the Lord when I neglect to pray for people. This is blunt and convicting. Period.
I hope you have been helped by some of these observations. I am thankful for and humbled by those of you who take the time to read my ramblings. I pray that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment and that the grace and peace of Christ would be with you all the days God has decided to give you. To him be all they glory!
