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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Samuel 12:1 - 12:15
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Samuel Protests his Integrity
v. 1. And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. "His listening to the voice of the people was based on the repeated divine command and was an act of self-denying obedience to the will of God. " (Lange. ) These words introduced the farewell speech of Samuel, the climax of the joyful meeting at Gilgal.
v. 2. And now, behold, the king walketh before you, having charge of the entire government of the people in peace and in war; and I am old and gray-headed, Cf 1Sa_8:5; and, behold, my sons are with you, and the present change in government was evidently necessary, since he himself had felt the need of placing some of his burdens upon the shoulders of his sons; and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day, he had been in public office, and therefore in the eye of the people since his infancy.
v. 3. Behold, here I am; witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed, the newly-elected king Saul: Whose ox have I taken, or whose ass have I taken, or whom have I defrauded, namely, by using his power in a ruthless manner? Whom have I Oppressed, by any form of violence, or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith, by taking ransom money in order to sell his favor and keep some criminal from the well-deserved punishment? And I will restore it you. In case any injustice, any mismanagement of office could be charged against him, he was willing to make public amends. His open challenge showed the serenity of his conscience, his consciousness of being innocent of any flagrant wrong-doing.
v. 4. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand. It was a splendid testimonial of the entire people to the honesty and integrity of Samuel.
v. 5. And he said unto them, his intention being to give to their testimonial the support of a solemn declaration before the Lord, The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. They accepted the solemn adjuration and supported their declaration by a statement having the force and weight of an oath.
v. 6. And Samuel, in order to have the people realize still more deeply their ingratitude in rejecting a government which they themselves acknowledged as having been so praiseworthy, said unto the people, It is the Lord, He is witness, that advanced Moses and Aaron, made them what they were, gave them their place in history, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. He had heard their declaration. which implied that they had, in the person of Samuel, who represented this covenant God, rejected Jehovah Himself, as Samuel now proceeds to show from their history.
v. 7. Now, therefore, stand still that I may reason with you, as though he were conducting his own cause before a judge, before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, God's blessings by reason of His covenant faithfulness, in fulfilment of His solemn promises, which He did to you and to your fathers.
v. 8. When Jacob was come into Egypt and your fathers cried unto the Lord, at the time of the great oppression by the Egyptians, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. That was the first great act of God's covenant faithfulness, the deliverance out of the land of Egypt and the introduction into the Land of Promise.
v. 9. And when they forgat the Lord, their God, in deliberate unfaithfulness and defection to the covenant, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, Jdg_4:2, and into the hand of the Philistines, Jdg_10:7; Jdg_13:1, and into the hand of the king of Moab, Jdg_3:12, and they fought against them.
v. 10. And they cried unto the Lord and said, We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth, this had been their confession whenever they had come to the full realization of their helpless plight, as being due to their unfaithfulness, Jdg_10:10; but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve Thee.
v. 11. And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, Jdg_6:14-32, and Bedan, or Barak, Jdg_4:6, and Jephthah, Jdg_11:1, and Samuel, for the speaker could well mention his own name, since he was conscious of his high mission as Judge and deliverer of his people, this fact being generally recognized in Israel, 1Sa_3:20, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe, they were living in quiet and security.
v. 12. And when ye saw that Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon, came against you, who thus had evidently made several raids against the territory of Israel before his bolder campaign against Jabesh, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us; when the Lord, your God, was your king, who had, by awaking Judges and saviors, always delivered them out of the hands of their enemies. So their demand for a king had really been a bit of foolish caprice, of sinful rejection of the Lord.
v. 13. Now, therefore, behold the king whom ye have chosen, in public, popular assembly, and whom ye have desired! And, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you. Although their demand was not in accordance with God's plans at this time, Jehovah had granted them the king whom they wanted, who was a gracious gift from His hand.
v. 14. If ye will fear the Lord, and serve Him, and obey His voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, for He was still the highest Ruler in the nation and intended to have His government acknowledged without question, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following after the Lord, your God. This is really in the nature of a most emphatic wish and prayer, that they might never cease holding to the Lord with all their hearts.
v. 15. But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you as it was against your fathers, in spite of the king in whom they were placing so overmuch confidence. The mere fact that they now had a king did not guarantee them freedom from the oppressions with which they had battled in the past, for this could be attained only by an unwavering clinging to Jehovah. The congregation of the Lord is always in need of admonitions to repentance and obedience, If faithful preachers would not continue with rebuking, admonishing, warning, and pleading, disobedience and defection would soon be prevalent everywhere.