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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Samuel 12:16 - 12:25
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Samuel Admonishes the People to Steadfastness
v. 16. Now, therefore, stand and see this great thing, a miracle in confirmation of Samuel's reproof and admonition, which the Lord will do before your eyes. This they were to experience at once, even now.
v. 17. Is it not wheat-harvest today, the season at which rain was most unusual? I will call unto the Lord, and He shall send thunder and rain, that ye may perceive and see, by this sign, so distinctly at variance with the ordinary weather in Canaan, that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of the Lord in asking you a king.
v. 18. So Samuel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, as a manifestation of His anger and of His royal glory, in confirmation of Samuel's words. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel, they were filled with dread at this corroboration of the prophet's statements.
v. 19. And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord, thy God, that we die not; for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king, a request which they now finally understood as being an insult to the Lord.
v. 20. And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not; ye have done all this wickedness, that was indeed not to be denied, and this fact was to keep them in wholesome repentance; yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart, in undivided, complete devotion;
v. 21. and turn ye not aside, after idolatrous vanities which were bound to bring harm; for then should ye go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. The reference is to the idols which had so often been a snare to the children of Israel.
v. 22. For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake, since His own glory was at stake; because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people, and He would be careful to guard against every blasphemy of His holy name.
v. 23. Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. There was no personal resentment on the part of Samuel, for he wanted to continue, as heretofore, to serve them in his prophetic office, both by prayer and by instruction.
v. 24. Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth, without the slightest hypocrisy, with all your heart; for consider how great things He hath done for you. With the remembrance of His great deeds before them always, as they knew them from the history of their people, they would be urged to keep on the right way.
v. 25. But if ye shall still do wickedly, in spite of all Samuel's admonitions, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king, for the Lord on high is a King of kings and a Lord of lords. If Christians will at all times keep the great deeds of God for their salvation before their eyes, they will find it an easy matter to remain meek and humble in following the Lord's commands in His power.