Samuel anointed Saul as King in 1 Sam 10. He was selected by lot before the people.
• Chapter 11 Saul, filled with the Spirit of God, led the people to their first battle against the Ammonites and rescued their city Jabesh Gilead.
• The people were elated and affirmed Saul as their King.
The people now recognises Saul as their new leader. Samuel, the prophet, will step back from taking the leadership role.
• That’s where chapter 12 comes in. Samuel made a farewell speech to the people. Not that he would ceased to be a prophet, but as a leader of Israel.
• The nation would now look to Saul their King to lead them.
• Samuel is not stepping down, but stepping aside for Saul. A good leader knows when to step aside when a new leader emerges
Samuel modelled for us the marks of a great servant of God.
• We got to know him from the beginning, even before he was born, when his mother Hannah prays for a child (chapter 1).
• And how he was dedicated to God and being raised up by the priest Eli to serve in the Temple. He has been the prophet and judge for Israel, all his life.
THREE things stand out for me: (1) His Integrity (12:1-5);
(2) His Faithfulness (12:6-18);
(3) His Love for his people (12:18-25).
[Read 12:1-5]
This is the mark of a great servant of God: HE LIVES WITH INTEGRITY
Samuel did not take advantage of his position, nor his people. And the crowd could testifies to this.
• To live with integrity for a period of time, that’s achievable. But Samuel lived that way all his life.
• From childhood to now “old and gray”, the people had nothing to accuse him of. He has been honest with God and with his people, in life and in ministry.
This is a remarkable example, considering the difficult circumstances he grew up in.
• The fact that Eli’s two sons were corrupt, and Samuel’s own two sons have also turned corrupt, shows that the environment wasn’t that good.
• 1 Sam 8:3 “But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.”
The temptations are there. The opportunities for dishonest gains are there. But Samuel has chosen to stay incorruptible! He has chosen to honour God, all his life!
• Our choices need not be dictated by the circumstances. Even in adverse circumstances, we can still hold on to our values and do the right thing!
I remember many years back a friend was interrogated by the police over the peddling of drugs, at the central police station. The police officer asked him many questions about his background and his family.
And at one point the officer made a very unfortunate comment. He said, “It’s your family situation. You have a broken family. Your parents are separated.” Hinting that this has caused the mess he got himself in.
My friend latched on to this comment and it became the excuse he held on to for many years. “I am what I am today because of my family. It’s my parents’ fault. There is no love in the family and that’s why I’m like this today!”
This is so unfortunate. We are never victims of the circumstances, so don’t choose to be one. By the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we can always choose to do it right.
In other words, if we are in the Garden of Eden, we cannot blame God, we cannot blame the tree for being there, we cannot blame the beautiful fruit that hangs before our eyes, and cannot blame the serpent Satan for enticing us.
• We are blessed with the FREEDOM to CHOOSE - the freedom to choose from ALL the fruit trees that are there in the Garden of Eden.
• So we have ourselves to blame, if we choose to pick that one forbidden fruit!
Take ownership of our choices and actions. That’s the only way we learn and grown and improve. Improve yourself, no one else can.
• Otherwise, if we blame everything and everyone else, we are not going to change.
• Circumstances may be outside your control, but the way we respond to them is NOT.
Samuel mentioned in verse 2 that “my sons are with you”. His sons are now standing with the people in the assembly, and not with him.
• It was likely that Samuel had stripped them of their official posts and reduced them to the level with the common people. He disciplined them!
He says to the people: “If I’ve wronged anyone, without knowing it, then state it now, so I can make it right.” (v.3)
• He does not want to handover the leadership with unresolved issues.
Listen to what he says next – 1 Sam 12:6-18.
The Lord authenticates what Samuel has just said. That’s the truth. Samuel has been speaking the truth to the people.
• Samuel recounted, in his own words, “all the righteous acts of God” (12:7).
(1) Verse 8 – God delivered you from slavery in Egypt and gave you this land.
(2) Verses 9-11 – You disobeyed God, indulged in idolatry, the enemies around oppressed you, and God sent judges to save you.
(3) Verses 12-13 – the immediate situation – the Ammonites were against them and they wanted a King to lead them fight them.
God is FOR them and not AGAINST them.
Each time Samuel speaks to the people, he keeps bringing up this issue about their choice of a king – chapters 8, 10 and 12.
• He speaks the truth in love. He makes it clear that this was not God’s idea nor his own idea. It was their stubborn will.
• Samuel did not brush it aside nor ignore it. He tells them as it is. And he repeats it. That’s a faithful shepherd of the flock.
This is the mark of a great servant of God: HE SERVES GOD FAITHFULLY
Samuel urged them in verse 14 to “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!”
• One wrong turn did not put them out of God’s favour forever. But the people and their king must keep to God’s ways.
• Youi don’t have to live in regret forever. Acknowledge your mistake, confess your sin and obey the Lord again.
Finally let’s read what happened at the end – 1 Sam 12:19-25
Samuel encourages them. “Do not be afraid… and do not turn away from the Lord.”
• You can choose to walk right with God TODAY!
• Don’t live in the past, with regrets. Don’t live in the future, by worrying. Both achieve nothing. Obey God and serve Him with all your heart TODAY.
Samuel assures them that God will not reject them, because He is pleased to make them His own.
• God’s favour is not a response to the good that they are doing or can do. It is “for the sake of His great Name…”
• The reason for the blessing lies with Him, not with Israel. We are loved because God has chosen to love us, for His name sake.
Samuel prays for them: “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.” (12:23)
• He puts it in an interesting way - he must not sin by stopping to pray for them.
• He is already praying for them; he says it would be a sin to stop praying for them.
For us, the problem is not with “stopping”. We do not even “start”. We don’t pray.
• Samuel’s problem is not stopping, ours is we’ve got to start.
Samuel is known as a man of prayer: Psalm 99:6, Jer 15:1.
• Ps 99:6 “Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the LORD and he answered them.”
• Jer 15:1 “Then the LORD said to me: "Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!”
This is the mark of a great servant of God: HE LOVES HIS PEOPLE
Samuel speaks the truth in love. He encourages them and prays for them.
• That may be the best thing we can do for someone - pray. The movie WAR ROOM testifies to it. That’s where the real battle is fought.
CONCLUSION
Would you consider Samuel a success?
• It is difficult to quantify. Real success in ministry does not lie in number or size of your ministry.
• We cannot quantify Samuel’s work but we can capture his heart. And that’s where it all matters. God looks at the heart.
Between a man with good attitudes and one with great talents, who would you choose? Choose the one with good attitudes.
Great companies hire for attitude and train for skill. What people know is less important than who they are.
Most of the things God takes delight in are not quantifiable. They are matters of the heart.
• Prov 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
• Pray that we will all be known for our integrity, before God and man. That we will serve the Lord faithfully, and be devoted to loving one another.
