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This semester, I have the pleasure of taking an Old Testament Hebrew class. We observe the Hebrew translations of the ancient texts, critically analyze the different authors and editors of the Bible, and piece together historical events with archaeological evidence. It really is a cool class.

We don’t read the text confessionally or spiritually. We read it historically. We aren’t trying to make theological suppositions or claims. We’re simply reading ancient texts as they are and piecing together missing parts.

We just finished the book of Judges, and last night, I had to read 1 Samuel 1-15. When I got to chapter 12, however, I couldn’t help but see the Word of God light up. I just had to share what the Lord showed me.

Samuel was a devout follower of God. He led Israel well. He was faithful, selfless, and a good leader. Despite Samuel’s prosperous leadership, the Israelites cried out for a king to rule them. Samuel prayed to God asking Him what to do. Samuel and God agreed that their asking for a king was sinful, since God was to be their only ruler. However, God told Samuel to grant them as they wished. Here is Samuel’s farewell address to the people of Israel.

(For some background information, 1 Samuel follows the book of Judges in which we learn the push-pull narrative of the Israelites disobeying God, spending a generation or two under oppression, repenting back to God, and then being delivered by God in prosperity until the next generation sinned again. Confessionally read, Judges is a moral-cycling story of rebellion, consequence, repentance, and favor.)

1 Samuel 12, from the Message Translation:

12 ^1-3 Samuel addressed all Israel: “I’ve listened to everything you’ve said to me, listened carefully to every word, and I’ve given you a king. See for yourself: Your king among you, leading you! But now look at me: I’m old and gray, and my sons are still here. I’ve led you faithfully from my youth until this very day. Look at me! Do you have any complaints to bring before God and his anointed? Have I ever stolen so much as an ox or a donkey? Have I ever taken advantage of you or exploited you? Have I ever taken a bribe or played fast and loose with the law? Bring your complaint and I’ll make it right.”

⁴ “Oh no,” they said, “never. You’ve never done any of that—never abused us, never lined your own pockets.”

⁵ “That settles it then,” said Samuel. “God is witness, and his anointed is witness that you find nothing against me—no faults, no complaints.”

^6-8 And the people said, “He is witness.”

Here, Samuel is basically making a point to the Israelites that he did not fail them as a leader, confirming that their asking for a King is a move against God and not Samuel himself.  

Samuel continued, “This is the God who made Moses and Aaron your leaders and brought your ancestors out of Egypt. Take your stand before him now as I review your case before God in the light of all the righteous ways in which God has worked with you and your ancestors. When Jacob’s sons entered Egypt, the Egyptians made life hard for them and they cried for help to God. God sent Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them here in this place.

⁹ “They soon forgot their God, so he sold them off to Sisera, commander of Hazor’s army, later to a hard life under the Philistines, and still later to the king of Moab. They had to fight for their lives.

¹⁰ “Then they cried for help to God. They confessed, ‘We’ve sinned! We’ve gone off and left God and worshiped the fertility gods and goddesses of Canaan. Oh, deliver us from the brutalities of our enemies and we’ll worship you alone.’

¹¹ “So God sent Jerub-Baal (Gideon), Bedan (Barak), Jephthah, and Samuel. He saved you from that hard life surrounded by enemies, and you lived in peace.

Samuel essentially sums up what we learn in Judges – how the Israelites served false gods and disobeyed His law, how they then were oppressed by other nations, and yet God still delivered them from evil and into freedom when they cried out to Him. This happens repeatedly.

¹² “But when you saw Nahash, king of the Ammonites, preparing to attack you, you said to me, ‘No more of this. We want a king to lead us.’ And God was already your king!

In other words, “God has been so gracious to you! He’s freed you over and over despite your constant rebellion! Now you’re asking for a king? God seriously isn’t enough for you? Do you not trust God to protect you from the Ammonites?”

^13-15 “So here’s the king you wanted, the king you asked for. God has let you have your own way, given you a king. If you fear God, worship and obey him, and don’t rebel against what he tells you. If both you and your king follow God, no problem. God will be sure to save you. But if you don’t obey him and rebel against what he tells you, king or no king, you will fare no better than your fathers.

My interpretation: “A king will not fix your problems. Following God is the only way. If you don’t keep the Lord’s ways, king or no king, your steps are sure to fail.”

^16-17 “Pay attention! Watch this wonder that God is going to perform before you now! It’s summer, as you well know, and the rainy season is over. But I’m going to pray to God. He’ll send thunder and rain, a sign to convince you of the great wrong you have done to God by asking for a king.”

¹⁸ Samuel prayed to God, and God sent thunder and rain that same day. The people were greatly afraid and in awe of God and of Samuel.

Basically, Samuel just proved to the Israelites that their request for a king is in fact a sin. They have chosen worldly leadership over God’s provision, and God confirmed this through the sign of thunder and rain during a dry season.

¹⁹ Then all the people begged Samuel, “Pray to your God for us, your servants. Pray that we won’t die! On top of all our other sins, we’ve piled on one more—asking for a king!”

Now, the Israelites realize what they have done. They are in anguish and fear, not wanting God to punish them. Despite Samuel’s multiple warnings against their request, the people clung to their desire. Yet even still, pay attention below to how Samuel responds to this act of sin.

^20-22 Samuel said to them, “Don’t be fearful. It’s true that you have done something very wrong. All the same, don’t turn your back on God. Worship and serve him heart and soul! Don’t chase after ghost-gods. There’s nothing to them. They can’t help you. They’re nothing but ghost-gods! God, simply because of who he is, is not going to walk off and leave his people. God took delight in making you into his very own people.

WOAH. “God, simply because of who he is, is not going to walk off and leave his people. God took delight in making you into his very own people.”

You’re telling me that God, knowing that the Israelites would continuously (for generations!) choose false gods, make idols, and disobey His law still takes delight in them? He is not going to abandon His people simply because it’s just “not His character?”

What. A. God.

^23-25 “And neither will I walk off and leave you. That would be a sin against God! I’m staying right here at my post praying for you and teaching you the good and right way to live. But I beg of you, fear God and worship him honestly and heartily. You’ve seen how greatly he has worked among you! Be warned: If you live badly, both you and your king will be thrown out.”

And Samuel was so close to the Father, so desperate to want what the Father wants, that he responded to them the same way God did. He continued to stay and teach them what is good and right. He continued to lovingly lead them into the ways of the Lord, even though they wanted a king over him. “You’ve seen how greatly he has worked among you!”

I love the JSP version of that scripture. It reads “…consider how grandly He has dealt with you.”

Consider how grandly, how graciously , how faithfully, how undeservingly committed the Lord has been to you.

Just look at how he treated the Israelites in the midst of their disobedience (and it was surely not their first time sinning).

Just look at how Jesus responded to the people who murdered Him unjustly while He was on the cross.

Just look at how Jesus washed the feet of those He knew would betray Him.

Just look at how Samuel did not abandon those he knew were going astray.

Yes, obey the Lord’s commands, love Him with all your heart, follow Him faithfully, but when you sin, when you go your own way, and when you falter, have no fear. It is contradictory to the character of God for Him to walk away from you. How do I know this? The evidence is in the text!

Look at how far you’ve come. Look at the new mercies you get to experience each day. Look at how the Lord has woken you up today. He has not finished His work within you. He has not run out of grace and forgiveness towards you. If you are here to witness another sunrise, God’s purpose in you remains.   

Praise God.

Philippians 1:6 NIV “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 3:17-18 NIV “…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”

You are not worthy because of anything you have done (or haven’t done). You are worthy, because God deems you worthy. Trust that your individual sin is not big enough to dismantle God’s great plan at restoring the entire universe and reconciling all things back to Him.

May you be covered in His grace, walking in it confidently with boldness, love, and gratitude. May you come to know that nothing you do can hinder the indefinite flow of mercy from God. May you trust that each day is a day given to you by the Lord, that His love will surely abound in you, teaching you and guiding you in His ways. May you have the strength to continue turning to God and away from shame, for surely your sins cannot overcome what Christ did for you on the cross. May you accept the forgiveness God has given you, and may you praise Him with faithfulness. May you know that your soul is unique and wonderful, your spirit is alive and beautiful, and your life is good because God says it is. Whatever hand this life dealt you, may you find joy knowing that the Lord has chosen you over the world. May you find peace in the little things, and may you trust that Our Father will always deal with us “grandly.”