I've been reading 1 Samuel for the last few days, and I wanted to mention a couple of things that caused me to stop in my tracks all over again even though I've read them many times before.
The first is in 1 Samuel 12. Israel is asking God for a king. Samuel warns them that they really don't want a king. They insist that they do indeed want a king. They're tired of trusting a king (God) that they cannot see... they want an earthly king, partly so it's someone they can see and partly just because it's what everyone else around them is doing. The Lord appoints a king, but it's not without consequence to Israel. Here's how it goes down:
1 Samuel 12:17b-25 (ESV) [Samuel says,] ... And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking for yourselves a king. So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
And all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king." And Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king."
I mean, seriously. Just sit and read that second paragraph again. It's amazing, and it applies to every human being who ever walked the face of the earth. Israel totally blew it! And yet they had this great encouragement from the Lord through Samuel. And they still messed up. Over and over and over again. We mess up over and over and over again. Which is exactly why God had a different plan from eternity past, one that doesn't count on our ability to get it right. Jesus.
And isn't Jesus' message to all humanity the same as Samuel's message to Israel? We have all sinned against the Lord and worshiped "empty things that cannot profit or deliver" (ourselves, other people, knowledge, things, status, good hair, a clothing size, etc.). If you are reading this and are in a place where you are not trusting in Christ ALONE for the forgiveness of your sins and hope of eternal life, you can choose right now to recognize that God is the only One worth worshiping, turn away from your sin, receive His forgiveness, and begin to serve him faithfully with all your heart.
Even those of us who have already accepted the Truth of the Gospel still need to hear it over and over again. It's sweet every single time we hear it and recognize how wonderful God's grace is. The Lord has done great things for us, and He alone is worthy of our praise and honor.
Samuel points out that it would be a sin against GOD for Samuel to give up praying for Israel. There are times in life when we have done all we can physically do for a person, but there is NEVER a point in time when we are allowed to give up praying for those who are wandering or separated from the Lord. He also says that he will continue to instruct them in the good and right way. As an added note, if we're receiving instruction or correction in "the good and right way", let's not reject it. It is a gift from the Lord, a mercy that gets or keeps us on track.
Samuel warns Israel that if they continue to do wickedly, they and their king will be destroyed. Likewise, if we fail to turn away from all of the empty things that we worship and fail to repent of our sin, we will be destroyed right along with all the stuff we focus on that doesn't last. This warning is very scary. But ultimately we don't worship the Lord only as a way to get out of being destroyed (although it's definitely a healthy part of our motivation). We worship and serve him faithfully with all our hearts because he has done great things for us. It is his kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). There is so much more (infinitely more), but hopefully, I'm getting the basic point across.
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The second thing I wanted to mention is the story of David and Abigail in 1 Samuel 25. I would encourage you to read the entire chapter, but I'm not going to type it all out here. In short, Abigail is married to a guy named Nabal. Nabal acts a fool and is a punk to David. David decides that he's going to seek revenge and kill Nabal.
Abigail finds out about David's plan and approaches David to ask him to have mercy on her husband (who she admits has acted foolishly). She encourages him to let the Lord take care of it and says, "And when the Lord has... appointed you prince over Israel, [you] shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for ... taking vengeance [yourself]." (1 Samuel 25:30-31)
"And David said to Abigail, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from avenging myself with my own hand!'" (1 Samuel 25:32-33)
David decided not to kill Nabal. Abigail told her husband all of these things. Ten days later the Lord struck Nabal dead.
"When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, 'Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing.'" 1 Samuel 25:39.
The Lord used Abigail to speak to David, to prevent David from doing something terribly wrong. Even if the Lord had not struck Nabal dead, it would still have been His job to decide to avenge David. It is not our responsibility to get back at people who do wrong to us. We are to trust these things to the Lord. And we are to heed the warnings of other people that God uses to warn us. David humbly accepts Abigail's warning and praises her discretion. He didn't continue on with his plan just because he had already resolved to kill Nabal. He snapped out of it and realized that it would be a big mistake. He saw Abigail's action as loving.
Like Abigail, when we see other people heading into a situation where they are about to make some big mistakes, it is our responsibility to come to them in love and warn them.
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