THEY LOVE ME, THEY LOVE ME NOT (1 SAMUEL 8, 12:16-25)
A joke on the management of cows has been circulating for many years under the subject “World Economics,” “World Politics,” or “World Ideologies”:
Communism: You have two cows. The government takes both, milks them, keeps the milk, and gives you a pint.
Socialism: The government takes one of your cows and gives it to a neighbor.
Fascism: The government takes both your cows and shoots one of them.
Nazism: The government takes both cows and shoots you.
Capitalism: You milk both cows, sell one of the cows, and buy a bull.
Bureaucracy: The government takes both cows, milks them, and pours the milk down the drain.
A more original saying on the mockery of law in USA, Germany, Russia and France is stated this way:
In the US, everything that is not prohibited by law is permitted.
In Germany, everything that is not permitted by law is prohibited.
In Russia, everything is prohibited, even if permitted by law.
In France, everything is permitted, even if prohibited by law.
The transition from the old order of the judges to the new order of the monarchy in Israel was a painful experience for Samuel. After more than twenty years of distinguished, outstanding and sacrificial service (1 Sam 7:2), Samuel discovered that he was not wanted anymore. Samuel made a big mistake by appointing his two sons as judges (1 Sam 8:1-2). The appointment of judges was the prerogative of God, and not Samuel or other men (Judg 2:16, 18). Samuel’s sons were scoundrels, yet God did not punish Samuel’s sons with the same severity as He did with Eli’s sons. Their sons were not in same league. Eli’s sons were immoral and Samuel’s sons were unethical. Eli’s sons were wicked; they had no regard for the LORD (1 Sam 2:12) and their sin was very great in the Lord’s sight (1 Sam 2:17). The expression “sin was very great” is a one-of-a-kind expression in the Bible. Samuel was guilty of nepotism and ignorance, but not deceit. Samuel, who had not so much as taken a dime from people (1 Sam 12:3-4), had sons that profited obscenely from their father’s influence in Israel.
Have you ever felt what it was like when people let you down, when things go downhill and when ties are strained? Or that your position, authority and record no longer factor much, count for something, or carry that much weight? What are we to do if we are ushered out the front door after years of faithful service?
Get Mad, But Don’t Get Even
8:1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” 6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. (1 Sam 8:1-6)
17 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.” 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. 19 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 Sam 12:16-19)
Abraham Lincoln, America’s most popular president, was anything but beloved while he was in office. The South hated him. The anti-war activists hated him. Democrats hated him, calling him a widow-maker. The media ridiculed his eyes, looks and body, calling him a freak of nature. Harpers magazine so much as to call him a host of names in print: filthy story teller, despot, liar, thief, braggart, buffoon, usurper, monster, ignoramus Abe, old scoundrel, perjurer, swindler, tyrant, field-butcher, land-pirate.
Lincoln, however, would not stoop down to the level of his critics. He won over a lot of his enemies and critics by holding fast to this famous principle “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right.”
Samuel did not react to the problem, but prayed about the problem. He experienced a serious round of disappointment. His children let him down, the Israelites let him down, the elders let him down, but deep in his heart, he felt that he had let himself and the Lord down. How else could he explain how his children had turned out so crooked, so greedy and so ungodly? His world was turned upside down, the elders met behind secret doors and the people eyed for a king. The elders pressured him to relinquish his duties, had a B plan up their sleeves and ordered him to do as they said (v 4). They had it all figured out, mapped out and laid out for him.
Samuel was feeling deeply hurt, backed into a corner and disrespected in the worst way. No one came to his defense, all elders had the same thinking and options were not on the table. When push came to shove, he did not threaten to quit or call it quits, announce or take an early retirement or leave without a word or trace. In his heart, he did not think it was necessary, time or wise, but Samuel did what his mother did, did what Eli said but did not do, and what he did all his life – when he led the revival early in his ministry (1 Sam 7:5), when he underwent this crisis midway in his ministry (1 Sam 8:6) and when he bid them farewell in his twilight years (1 Sam 12:19, 23): he prayed (v 6). Samuel was attested by prophet Jeremiah as a great man of prayer (Jer 15:1).
The Hebrew word pray occurs only 11 times altogether in 1 Samuel - five times referring to Hannah’s activity (1 Sam. 1:10, 12, 26, 27, 2:1) and four times to Samuel’s (1 Sam. 7:5, 8:6, 12:19, 23) and twice in Eli’s speech to his sons (1 Sam 2:25, 25). Samuel was a prophet and a prophet’s prayer rights wrongs, saves people and heals situations (Gen 20:7). He was displeased - deeply troubled, hopping mad and feeling betrayed. Although he was lost for words, he did not lose his temper, perspective or testimony. He took it to the Lord in prayer (v 6), asking God for wisdom, direction, and patience.
Many years later only when Samuel made his farewell speech to Israel did he show color to Israel (1 Sam 12:18-19). He hinted that he could have brought thunder, rain and other disasters upon Israel when they asked for a king then. It was in his power but not in his character to do so. It could have crossed his mind, but never his heart.
Go Quietly and Go Figure
7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” 10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. (1 Sam 8:7-10)
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go back to his town.” (1 Sam 8:19-22)
Aesop told a popular story of a group of frogs that lived in a lake. They splashed about with nothing to care about and nobody to trouble them. The frogs lived a blissful existence; however, they were not happy. They wanted a king, a ruler, or a chief. So they said to the Creator, “Mighty Creator,” they cried, “send us a King that will rule over us and keep us in order.” And out of the sky a huge object came crashing into the lake.
The frogs croaked in excitement, ran for cover, and took a peek. The new king who had made a grand entrance looked solid, stern, and somber. At first they were scared out of their wits of their new king, but as soon as they realized that the frog king was just a piece of log, they climbed, jumped, and trampled all over it. They sat on it, toyed with it, and laughed at it. After a while, they moaned that their king was a useless, hopeless, and powerless piece of wood.
When the frogs were bored with and tired of the log, they again asked the Creator for a more powerful and less passive replacement. The disgruntled frogs said, “We want a real King; one that will really rule over us.” When they took a look at their new king they hurried and scampered back into the lake and swam for their lives, but it was too late. The new king was a flapping stork that chased them all the way into the lake and feasted on them day and night until they croaked.
Be careful what you wish for. Ben Franklin said, “If a man could have half his wishes, he would double his troubles.”
Samuel knew in his heart of hearts that what the people asked for was wrong. They did not know that they were asking for the wrong thing and that they were asking for nothing but trouble. The clueless Israelites did not have the faintest idea what was at stake, in store and for good. The people chanted to Samuel twice “Like all the nations” (vv 5, 20). They were barking up the wrong tree and they were heading for trouble. The kings they asked for were much worse than Samuel’s sons. The Israelites wanted to be like the idolatrous, immoral and corrupt kings and nations that God had driven from the land. God ran the kings and nations out the front door (Lev 20:23) but Israel allowed them through the back door. Israel was raised high above all nations (Deut 26:1, 28:1); praise, fame and honor belonged to them; and that they were consecrated to the LORD (Deut 26:19), but they’d rather be comparable to their neighbors.
Samuel’s maturity, humility and godliness were manifest that day. He did not scoff at them, scream at them or squabble with them after hearing God’s positive counsel to him. Samuel left out the choice words, the best parts - the divine vindication, backup and affirmation he received from God (vv 7-8). He did not lecture them about their collective rejection of God, their past history in Egypt or their personal wrong against him, even though God said, “So they are doing to you” (v 8) . The people’s accusation was personal, but Samuel did not take it personally or gloat at their choice, their mistake or their folly. He did store their fault in his heart, mind or book. Nowhere in his reply did he mention himself. It was all about the Lord and his relationship to his people. He did not end up grievous, disturbed or resentful although he was initially displeased.
Samuel reminded himself, not others, what God said, “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king” (v 7). Even in his farewell speech many years later Samuel revealed to Israel for the first time how they had rejected the LORD as their king, (1 Sam 12:12) but up to his old age, dying day, and glorious end Samuel did not include the words God had told him, “They have not rejected you.” Samuel’s life was not about or for himself; it was for the Lord and for others.
Give In But Never Give Up
7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” (1 Sam 8:7-9)
23 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. 24 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 Sam 12:23-24)
A story was told of two friends who were walking through the desert. During some point in the journey, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE”.
They kept walking until they found an oasis where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but his friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE”.
The friend who slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now you write on a stone, why? He replied, “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away, but when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it on stone where no wind can ever erase it.”
Israel’s request for a king disappointed Samuel but not God. God had predicted to Moses ages ago that this would happen (Deut 17:14). Samuel was given a message to communicate to Israel: The king will take your family (8:11-13), your fields (8:14), your farmhand (8:16), your flocks (8:17a) and, finally, your freedom (8:17b). The king will be an irremovable force, a financial burden and a stumbling block.
Samuel checked with the Lord twice to confirm if the people were wrong for wanting a king (1 Sam 8:6, 21), if God was serious about allowing them and if he heard both sides right. He did not give up on the people who had abandoned him (1 Sam 8:8), who wanted to be like everybody else and who responded with a defiant NO after being forewarned of the disastrous outcome of their decision.
In his next and also his last speech to Israel given immediately after King Saul’s pubic coronation, Samuel spoke from the heart and told them the divine version and insider account of the events that led to Israel’s petition for a king. Samuel knew what the people would do in the future, but still he held out hope that nothing would happen. He poured out his heart to them: “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” (1 Sam. 12:23). To the end, Samuel was tender and hopeful in mouth and heart even though he knew that trouble was imminent.
The personal pronoun “me” is from the grand tradition of and has the same tone as Joshua’s farewell speech: “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Josh 24:15) The phrase “far be it” states things in the strongest terms. KJV translates it as “God forbid.” Samuel told them he would not fail to pray for them (1 Sam 12:23), for the failure to pray for them was wrong, malicious and spiteful. It was as good as sin, as ugly as sin, and as crass as sin. The phrase “good and right” (1 Sam 12:23) or “right and good” is always pure, pleasing and positive. Nothing bad, negative or questionable could tarnish the two Hebrew words in any combination, which was what Moses commanded the Israelites to do in the new land (Deut 6:18, 12:28). In the end, only King Asa (2 Chron 14:2) and Hezekiah (2 Chron 31:20) did what was “good and right” in the eyes of the LORD his God.
Conclusion: Are you bent out of shape when things don’t go your way? Do you take your troubles to God? Are you serving God or man? Do you have the ability, strength and character to withstand hardship, adversity, or stress? When you don’t see to eye with others, do you still love, pray and serve them?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
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