Fear the Lord and Serve Him

1 Samuel 12:1-25

As we begin today, let’s consider, what this chapter is all about. Essentially, it is Samuel's farewell speech. One question that arises is: “Why did Samuel’s first part of his farewell speech sound like it came from a defense lawyer?”  Let’s look at some previous passages describing Samuel’s job.

I Samuel 3:19-21 The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

I Samuel 7:15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life

I Samuel 8:1 When Samuel was old he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

I Samuel 8:3 His sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.

I Samuel 8:5 the people of Israel said to Samuel, “You have grown old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations”.

I Samuel 8:7 The Lord told Samuel, “listen to them for they have not rejected you but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”

So Samuel, the former judge of Israel, now presents his own case before the people and asks them for their verdict.

Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right.” –1 Samuel 12:1-3

In response, the people find him innocent.

“You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”

“He is witness,” they said.—1 Samuel 12:4-5

Samuel’s second part of his farewell speech sounds like it came from a prosecuting attorney.  In this statement, Samuel presents his case against the people.

Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt. Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your fathers.

“After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

“But they forgot the LORD their God; so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely.

“But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king. Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. If you fear the LORD and serve and obey Him and do not rebel against His commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God—good! But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against His commands, His hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.—1 Samuel 12:6-15

Samuel next calls on God as a witness to convince the people that they are guilty of doing an evil thing in the Lord’s eyes.

“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.”—1 Samuel 12:16-17

The Lord proceeds to demonstrate His power and validates Samuel’s allegations by answering his prayer for thunder and rain during the wheat harvest. The wheat harvest is the dry season which occurs at the end of June or beginning of July, when it seldom (or never) rains and the sky is cloudless.  We read about what happened in verse 18.

Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.—1 Samuel 12:18

After this sign, the people recognize that they have sinned greatly. They acknowledge their sin and plead guilty as charged.  They then ask their former judge (whom they had technically fired) to once again pray to God for them to receive mercy in order to avoid the death sentence.

The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”—1 Samuel 12:19

Samuel changes hats once more and attempts to comforts the people with a message of hope.

“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of His great name the LORD will not reject His people, because the LORD was pleased to make you His own. As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. But be sure to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.—1 Samuel 12:20-24

A week ago this past Thursday, I met a man named Norwood Jones, of Jackson, TN.  Norwood told me that he had written a country song called “Hoe Soe Moe.”  When I looked up the song with my son John, we found that a 27 minute video of Norwood being interviewed by a local news studio in Jackson, TN.  During the interview, Norwood said that he wrote the song after he had a hip replacement the previous year.

When I met Norwood and his wife Joyce during the intermission of a play in Jackson, he told me that he and his wife Joyce had been married for 65 years. Here is a man who is somewhere between the age of 85 and 100, who has a hip replacement and writes a song within a month of the surgery, has it set to music, and has it recorded and published on iTunes and Amazon this year.  He told me that it would have been published sooner, but he also had a massive heart attack sometime shortly after the hip surgery.  However, what really stuck in my mind about Norwood for the past ten days was not this amazing accomplishment, but his love for the Lord.   During our brief five minute meeting, Norwood shared his dream with me: to glorify the name of the Lord by trying to get all of the churches to change their name to include the name of Jesus or the Love of Jesus in each church’s actual name.   

Now I am not suggesting that we change our church’s name, but I would like to ask each of you saints:  “Do you have dream?” “What is your dream?”  “Is your dream great enough such that if your dream came to pass it would greatly glorify the Lord, your Maker and Savior?”  Let’s think about that as we go back to today’s passage.

Finally, Samuel the former judge delivers this stern warning:

Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”—1 Samuel 12:25

This is a warning to all of us as Christians and to our nation. If we persist in doing evil, we will be swept away.  God will not be mocked by the fake news media, nor will He be mocked by the false twitter tweets coming out of Washington, DC.  If our culture continues to persist in doing evil, and our leaders continue to change the laws to make it acceptable for evil to reign, then our nation, like the Hebrew nation, will be swept away.

Finally, let’s reflect on two truths and a response to take away from today’s message:

1. For the sake of His great name, the LORD will not reject you or His people, because the LORD was pleased to make you His own.

2. Forms of government may change from judges and prophets to monarchies, dictatorships, parliaments, or democracies, to socialist, fascist, communist, or somewhere in between. However, the Lord does not change, and if we serve Him faithfully with all our heart He will not forsake, us no matter what form of government authority we happen to live under.

So what is our correct response?  We must serve Him faithfully with all our heart out of love for Him and out of reverence for His great name.  Dream great dreams to glorify His name.  Remember what He has done for you. Let’s pray.