Following the Lord Forward

Following the Lord Forward

1 Samuel 12:1-25 

 

Illus. Following?

 

Review: 1 Samuel 8 – 12.

 

            As we turn to 1 Samuel 12, we will begin by reading the words of Samuel. It is a coronation speech for the king and a farewell speech of sorts for Samuel. Though we will still see him and his ministry, the leadership in the land, and the person people were looking to was a man, Saul, the first king. There was something that needed to be addressed, however. There was something Samuel wanted the people to understand and see clearly, and that is, that they had rejected God as their king, and if they did not realize this and give their all to following the Lord forward, both they, and their king, would suffer defeat.

 

Read: 1 Samuel 12:12-24

 

            In these verses, we see the people realize the error of their way. In their request for a king they were rejecting God. They had turned away, they had rejected and tried to replace the Lord. As soon as their realized the error of their way, however, Samuel reveals to them that God has not given up on them, and then gives them a formula for following Him forward.

            Many verses in Scripture direct us to follow the Lord. Not like we would follow a person on social media which really just means that you want to get updates from them. But, to truly follow, to put them in the lead, to trust, lean upon, and rely on Him in your your life.  With that said, I want to study four instructions Samuel gives to the people so that they would have success in following the Lord forward after realizing the error of their way. Each point for us, will help us to follow the Lord forward and since the term “follow” has become so common in social media, I decided to center the points on phrases we come to know through social media: Your status, your direct messages, your subscriptions, and your influencer.

 

1. Check Your Status

 

• Chapter 12 will end with the people realizing their need to follow the Lord forward, but the chapter begins with Samuel showing the people their current status before the Lord.

 

• He starts with his own status:

 

1 Samuel 12:1-5, Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice for all that you said to me, and I have appointed a king over you. Now, here is the king walking before you, but as for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. And I have walked before you since my youth to this day. Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to close my eyes with it? I will return it to you.” And they said, “You have not exploited us or oppressed us, or taken anything from anyone’s hand.” So he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”  

 

• Samuel lets the people know where things are at with him, “I have listened to your voice, I have appointed a king over you, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you.”

 

• In his status update he reminded them of what he has done and who he has been.

 

• His status update reminds us of what the people said in chapter 8 to him, “We want a king, you are old and your sons are dishonest.”

 

• Samuel says, I have listened, “I am old, and my sons are here with you.”

 

• Many Bible scholars believe that Samuel telling them that his sons are now with them indicates that Samuel had removed them of the positions he had once given them as judges in Israel. Now they are amongst the people.

 

• He continues, I have walked before you since my youth to this day. I have taken no bribes, I have not exploited anyone, if I have, I will return it to you.

 

• The people confirm that Samuel was honest, he had taken no bribes, and had not exploited or oppressed the people.

 

• In verses 6 to 11, he looks back on the status of their nation. Giving them a history that they would have known, that they were once slaves in Egypt and the Lord delivered them. They went through the wilderness and the Lord brought them through and to the promised land.

 

• Though God had brought their families through in times past, they repeatedly forgot about the Lord, they did not follow Him and found themselves defeated.

 

• This was a cycle that was seen repletely in the nation of Israel. And Samuel points this out, they turned from the Lord, forgot about Him, then they would find themselves defeated, recognize their sin, and cry out to Him.

 

1 Samuel 12:10-11, They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have abandoned the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now save us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’  Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal (Gideon), Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and saved you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.

 

• Samuel says, they turned away, and then cried out to the Lord and He sent judges to lead them. But notice that the last name on the list of judges was his name.

 

• And that is his address turns from the historical, to the personal. God had saved, He has proven over and over again that He would do so, they had lived in security throughout their long history, and they had lived in security personally.

 

• Then he turns the attention to their status:

 

1 Samuel 12:12-13, But when you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us!’ Yet the Lord your God was your king. And now, behold, the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has put a king over you.

 

• I can just picture the scene, the people have their king, things are exciting for them. Nationally, things seem to be in good hands, they have their king.

 

• As Samuel shares his status, “I have walked before you, you have seen the way I have walked before you.” We have seen, we are witnesses! Then he talks through Israelite history. As he described that history, there would have been no arguing, he states the facts of God’s faithfulness and His provision of security.

 

• Then as he lists the judges, Jerubball (Gideon), Bedan (Many believe to be Barak), and then lists himself, and turns it to the present.

 

• You were in security, God was your king, but when you saw Nahash come against you, you said “No, but king shall reign over us!”

 

• Samuel looks back, and then points out the present. And that is essential if we are going to follow the Lord forward.

 

• In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul looks back on those who wandered in the wilderness, were guided by a cloud, walked through a sea on dry land, ate manna, drank from the rock, yet they were a faithless generation. 

 

1 Corinthians 10:11-12, Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (NKJV)

 

• To “take heed” means to watch out, to be aware or where you are standing, or what your status is.

 

Illus. Where are you?

 

• Samuel is essentially saying, you have seen me, you have seen the history, but where are you at presently?

 

And if we are going to follow the Lord forward, it is important to acknowledge where we are standing, what or who we are following…

 

1 Samuel 12:14-15, If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, even as it was against your fathers.

 

• In other words, you have a king in place, but you and your king must follow the Lord forward, lest you fall. You may have a king on board, but the one you follow in your life, must still be the Lord. It is your status there that will determine success or failure.

 

Illus. Cycles.

 

1. Make the Selection to Direct Message Him

 

1 Samuel 16-18, Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord is going to do before your eyes.  Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord, that He will send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord, by asking for yourselves a king.” So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so that we do not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, by asking for ourselves a king.”

 

• After pointing them to their status with the Lord, Samuel directs their attention to the hand of the Lord.

 

• He directs their attention to a great thing the Lord was going to do before them that day. It might not seem much of a great thing for those of us living on Oregon in the Spring, but for the Israelites, it was a big deal.

 

• When Samuel spoke to the people, it was a particular time of year, “harvest season,” which was at the end of May and beginning of June. It is a time of year there where it is hot and dry. The rains had ended for the season.

 

Proverbs 26:1, Honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest.

 

• Samuel asks, “Is it not wheat harvest today?” Their answer would have been “yes.” And Samuel responds, “I am going to call to the Lord and He will send thunder and rain.”

 

• It was going to be a sign for them that they had done an evil thing by rejecting God.

 

• The Lord responded by sending thunder and rain. It was a mighty work of the Lord.

 

• Upon seeing the Lord respond to the prayer of Samuel to bring the storm, the people ask Samuel to pray for them because they realize they have done wrong.

 

• Samuel could have used a number of signs or ways to show them their spiritual reality. Though they had already heard from Samuel that they their decision was a rejection of God, it wasn’t until the storm came that they fully realized the error of their way and decided that it was time to turn to God and pray. 

 

Illus. Focus.

 

• Samuel is known in Scripture as a man of prayer. In Jeremiah 15 we get the picture of Samuel as one who stood before God, and Psalm 99 as being among those who called on the name of the Lord.

 

James 5:16, A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much.

 

• The people knew this, they had seen it clearly. It is something important for us to see.

 

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

 

Illus. Receipts.

 

Illus. Revelation 5:8 and Revelation 8:3-4.

 

Jeremiah 33:3, This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to create it, He whose name is the Lord: ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

 

• Samuel will respond to their request for prayer by pointing them to the way to follow the Lord forward, and to their request specifically in verse 23.

 

1 Samuel 12:23, As for me, far be it from me that I would sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

 

III.    Subscribe to Serving Without Swerving

 

1 Samuel 12:20-21, Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Indeed, you must not turn aside, for then you would go after useless things which cannot benefit or save, because they are useless.

 

• The people recognized their need for the Lord, and Samuel tells them to serve the Lord with all their heart, to not turn away from Him, or toward useless things that cannot benefit, or save.

 

• The word “useless,” is translated elsewhere futile, that which amounts to nothing, those things that are meaningless.

 

• Samuel tells them that useless things cannot benefit them, or save them, because they are useless.

 

Matthew 6:19-21, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

Illus. Heart follows treasure.

 

• Samuel makes it clear, don’t follow after useless things, where moth and rust destroy, follow the Lord and serve Him will all your heart.

 

• One’s heart is their control center, it includes mind, will, emotion. Proverbs 4:23 tells us that all we do flows from our hearts.

 

• Samuel says, with all that you are, serve the Lord and don’t turn aside from following Him.

 

• Again and again, the people had swerved, they had turned away. Rather than following God’s instruction in obedience, they did their own thing, and found themselves defeated.

 

• Samuel says, “serve the Lord with your whole heart.”

 

• The word for serve means to work for, to be subject to, or to directed by.

 

• Samuel tells them, you have done this evil, but do not turn away, rather, turn toward the Lord, following Him is the way forward.

 

• Do not turn aside from Him, which is to depart from, or remove oneself from.

 

Illus. Now is the time to follow.  

 

1. Let All He Has Done Influence All You Do

 

1 Samuel 12:22, For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

 

• The Lord will not abandon you, He has attached His name to you, and He has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

 

• That is quite the statement. The Lord loves that you are His people. When I think about this I marvel. That the Lord is pleased to make us His people.

 

• The word for “the Lord has been pleased,” is ya’al speaks of contentment to take something on, or finding pleasure in.

 

• He is pleased that we are His people. What a great thought. But as I pondered this, the question came to mind, are we pleased to be His people? Do we find pleasure in the fact that He has chosen us and calls us His own?

 

Psalm 149:4, For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will glorify the lowly with salvation.

 

• Psalm 149 depicts another word for “pleasure” one that speaks of the satisfaction that comes with approval, or the acceptance of a someone or something, it also is used to describe the satisfaction that comes from a debt that has been paid off.

 

2 Corinthians 1:21-22, “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

 

• In the ancient world, a seal was used to identify and to protect. If something was sealed, everyone knew who it belonged to, and the seal prevented anyone else from tampering with the item.

 

• The Holy Spirit is upon us to identify us and protect us. Our life is stamped, marked, and sealed by God through grace.

 

Illus. Your stamp.

1 Samuel 12:24, Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.

 

• Samuel is essentially saying, look at all the Lord has done for you, consider the great things He has done, and go forward with Him as your influencer.

 

John 10:10, I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.

 

John 8:12, Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

1 Samuel 12:1-25