Monday, June 26, 2023

1 Samuel 12:13

I Samuel 12:13 says, Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.  Samuel then told the people to behold their king, whom God had set over them.  Of course, we need to remember that this was the desire of the people, which God granted, but this had not been His plan.  God, leading through priests, prophets, and judges that He appointed when they needed them had been His way to lead the people.  As I stated before, God may grant us what we want today, but if He does, we may miss what we need.  Verse fourteen adds, If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God:  Samuel then hit them with one of the ifs that we find throughout the Bible.  If the people and the king feared the LORD, obeyed His Voice and didn't rebel against Him, they would continue following God and be led by Him.  This still applies to us today as Christians.  Of course, as I have said many times, I don't believe fearing God means being afraid of God, but means showing Him the great respect that He deserves.  Verse fifteen continues, But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.  Then, Samuel gave them the but that comes with the if.  But if they did not obey God, keep His commandments, and rebelled against Him, His hand would be against them as it had been at times against their fathers.  We cannot rebel against God's will as Christians and still expect Him to bless us in this life here on earth, though if we have truly accepted Him as our personal Savior and Lord, we have the everlasting blessing of life with Him forever.  Verse sixteen declares, Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.  Just as Samuel called on the people of Israel then to stand and see this great thing that God was going to do before them, we need to stand today as Christians expecting to see God do great things in our life.  Verse seventeen adds, Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.  Though God had given them a king, Samuel asked if the wheat harvest was not today, and said that he would call on God to send thunder and rain on the wheat to show them the great wickedness that they had done in asking for a king.  It may be that if we are simply asking God to endorse our plans that He is sending thunder and rain on our wheat harvest.  Verse eighteen continues, So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.  This was not a common occurrence at this time of the year, and it also happened just as Samuel had said God would cause it to happen.  We may at times want to write off God's warnings of His displeasure with us as just natural events, but I believe if we are attuned to His will at all we will know the difference.  Verse nineteen states, And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.  The people asked Samuel to pray for them, because they feared they would die for the great evil of asking for a king.  Fortunately, if we as Christians today realize that we have fallen away from the will of God, we can go directly to Him and ask for His forgiveness.  Verse twenty adds, And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;  Samuel told them not to fear, that even though they had done this great wickedness, all they neeed to do was not turn aside from following the LORD.  We cannot change any sin that we commit as Christians, so all we can do is confess our sin,  as the people of Israel did, ask for forgiveness, and then not turn aside from following God.  Verse twenty-one continues, And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.  As Samuel told the people then, if we turn aside from following God, we are chasing vain things, or things that are worth nothing.   Verse twenty-two declares, For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.  Samuel said that God would not forsake His people for His name's sake, because He had chosen them, and it pleased Him to do so.  As Christians today, we are God's people, because He has called us to be so, and it pleased Him to do so, and we will always be His people.  Verse twenty-three adds, Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:  Samuel said that as for himself, God forbid that he ever stopped praying for the people of Israel.  This should still be our attitude towards others today, both our fellow Christians and especially the lost people of the world.  Verse twenty-four continues, Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.  This should be our calling today as well.  Verse twenty-five concludes, But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.  Samuel then gave them a warning.  If they refused to obey God and keep His commandments, then their king and they would be consumed.  I believe this applies to those who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord today, but can also apply to our works as Christians.  Those things that we do out of the will of God will be consumed one day.

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