Who Do You Serve?
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We’re jumping back to 1 Samuel again, a book we left back in February with the beginning of Lent. Let’s do a quick review.
First of all, who is Samuel? Samuel is a prophet for Israel, in the OT. He was born to a very devout couple who gave him to the LORD that he would serve him. and so he grew up in the temple where Eli served as priest. As we read along we learned that Eli had a couple of sons of his own, and they don’t follow in the ways of the LORD. In fact, though they are serving in the temple the Bible tells us that they didn’t know the LORD. And because they don’t know the LORD, they don’t live by the guidelines that the LORD had commanded regarding sacrifices and the priests portion. We learned that they “treated the offering of the LORD with contempt. In the end the LORD rejects Eli’s household and calls Samuel.
That’s probably one of the most famous calls in Scripture. Samuel is lying down to go to sleep and the LORD calls him, but he doesn’t know it is the LORD, and he runs to Samuel and says, “Here I am!” This happens three times and Samuel realizes that the LORD was calling the boy. So he tells him to “Go lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, “Speak LORD, for your servant is listening.”
And the LORD calls Samuel and Samuel does as Eli told him. But the words he hears aren’t fun to hear, because the LORD tells him of a punishment that he is going to fulfill against Eli and his household for their iniquity.
We’re told that Samuel continued to grow “in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.”
Then we learned about what was happening with Israel at the time. The ark of the Covenant where the presence of God literally rests is captured by the Philistines when they defeat Israel in battle. And Eli dies.
Then the ark is returned to Israel and Samuel becomes a prophet for Israel and judges Israel. As he becomes old he made his sons judges over Israel, but they did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain, taking bribes and perverting justice (8:1-3). Now who was Samuel’s example as a father? It was Eli, so we see that he learned his parenting skills from Eli and unfortunately had a similar result.
So the elders of Israel ask for a king so they may be like all the countries around them. They want a king to lead them out in battle.
Where we left off, Saul had just been anointed king after being found hiding in the luggage and was beginning to lead the people in battles against the nations around them.
So before we go any further I need to let you know some things about the Bible.
The Bible does not always happen in chronological order. So if you’re reading along and your thinking everything I’m reading now happens after what I read before, you’re going to get confused. It’s like when you’re watching a movie and one of the characters might think back to a scene you’ve already seen but another detail is revealed that adds to what you knew before.
That’s sort of what is happening in today’s passage. We’re in chapter 12 of 1 Samuel, and this likely fits with chapter 8 because it logically comes with the selection of a king, and we know that Saul has been chosen by God. So with that, let’s hear from 1 Samuel 12. Let’s bring up our reader in residence, Drew and listen to the Word of God in 1 Samuel 12.
And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 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.”
Let’s Pray:
PRAY
There are a few keys here that Samuel is reminding Israel and he reminds us as well:
And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.
God was Israel’s king, but they are taking their eyes off of the LORD and wanting someone more tangible. Previously he has reminded Samuel that it is not Samuel they have rejected, but it is the Lord they have rejected. Still, there is a promise, look at verse 14.
If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.
Whether a king or another leader you are still accountable to the LORD.
But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
it is at this point that Israel had to recognize they’re done; it’s finished, there is no hope.
And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”
They recognize among themselves what they’ve done, and I love Samuel’s response:
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.
That is the Gospel there.
You may think that what you’ve done in the past prevents you from receiving anything that God may have for you. The past is past.
Yet, do not turn aside from following and serving the LORD!
He goes on:
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.
He then reminds them in verse 23 that he will be praying for therm and concludes with this:
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.”
We live in a world where from the beginning we have sought to put our confidence in ourselves or in other men and women who lead us. Since the very first chapter of Scripture we’ve been told there is only one worthy of our worship, worthy of our confidence, and that is the LORD himself.
How does that impact us?
IF we serve the Lord with all of our heart, faithfully; if we remember all the great things God has done for us, we do not have to fear our past. Remember John 3:17?
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be looking at Saul and his role as Israel’s king.