In the conclusion to his retirement speech, the prophet Samuel reminds the people of Israel how they asked for a king, even though God is their king. Do they care? Are they teachable?
Before they respond, Samuel reminds them of deeply important principles. Here’s what he says in 1st Samuel 12, verses 14-15,
“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 ancestors.”
Notice the phrase, “Fear God.” Fearing God means serving God, obeying him, not rebelling against him, choosing faithfulness to God and his ways. To illustrate his point, Samuel does something amazing in verses 16-19,
“‘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 on 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.’ Then Samuel called on 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. 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.’”
More talk about awe of the Lord. More fear in God’s presence. But for good reason. The people now see the potentially disastrous ramifications of their request for a king. They finally see their sinful selfishness, and the people beg Samuel to intercede. Are they truly getting right with God? Do they have a healthy fear?
Here is how Samuel concludes his retirement speech:
“‘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. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”
Clearly, though Saul is now king, Samuel is the one who will continue to serve as God’s prophet, God’s intermediary. Samuel will teach the people what is good and right. And what is good and right is not to be afraid, but to fear.
Let me say that again: what is good and right is not to be afraid, but to fear.
Does that sound contradictory? Be afraid…but don’t be.
Here’s how it is not contradictory: do not have unhealthy fear of the circumstances of the world, but instead have a healthy, proper fear, respect and awe of God, which you show by choosing to serve God faithfully, and resist evil. And that, Samuel says, goes for all the people, king included.
This week at we’ve studied 1st Samuel chapters 11 & 12, we’ve seen numerous references to fear. Unhealthy, ungodly fear, as well as godly fear of the Lord. We Christians can learn much from this. What can we learn? We’ll find out in the next post.
Engaging Scripture 