a. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart: Samuel would not minimize Israel’s sin. Yet, he did not want them to dwell on the sin of the past, but to go on walking with the LORD today.
i. The Living Bible puts the thought well: Make sure now that you worship the Lord with true enthusiasm, and that you don’t turn your back on Him in any way. We can’t do anything about yesterday, and at the present moment we can’t serve God tomorrow. At the present moment all we can do is not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. Satan loves it when we live in the past or in the future, when we do anything but serve the LORD with all we have right now.
b. Do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing: Samuel wanted Israel to know that rejecting the LORD and turning aside from Him just doesn’t work. If they would not serve God for spiritual reasons, then let them do it simply to succeed because nothing else can profit or deliver.
c. For the LORD will not forsake His people…it has pleased the LORD to make you His people: Samuel wanted Israel to know that God loves them. Despite the sin of their past, they could get on with serving the LORD and still see His blessing because God loves them. His favor towards Israel was not prompted by the good they did, were doing, or promised to do. It was for His great name’s sake because it pleased the LORD to do it. The reasons were in Him, not in Israel.
d. Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: Samuel knew the best thing he could do for Israel was to pray for them. His words would make no difference if the LORD did not work in their hearts, and the best way to promote the work of the LORD in their hearts was through prayer.
i. Samuel could have felt hurt that the people rejected him and the LORD as leaders over the nation. He might have been bitter against the people and refused to pray for them. But Samuel was a godlier man than that.
ii. Many would say, “I promise I will start praying for you.” For Samuel, starting to pray was a non-issue, because he was already praying. For him, the issue was ceasing to pray.
“Samuel had become so rooted in the habit of prayer for the people that he seems to start at the very thought of bringing his intercession to an end.” (Spurgeon)
iii. This statement of Samuel makes it plain: it is a sin for a leader of God’s people to stop praying for them. It is the most basic of his duties as a leader. If it is a sin to stop praying, how much worse must it be to even fail to start praying!
iv. The blessing of unceasing prayer is not the property of the preacher or leader alone. All can share in it.
“Perhaps you will never preach, but you may pray. If you cannot climb the pulpit you may bow before the mercy-seat, and be quite as great a blessing.” (Spurgeon)
e. I will teach you the good and the right way: Samuel would pray, but he would not only pray. There was still a place for teaching, and Samuel would faithfully fulfill that role as well.
i. “Whether a minister shall do more good to others by his prayers or preaching, I will not determine, saith one; but he shall certainly by his prayers reap more comfort to himself.” (Trapp)
ii. Samuel wants the people of Israel to know that even as he steps back and allows Saul to emerge as a leader, he will not forsake Israel. He will continue to lead and to serve them, but more in a spiritual way through prayer and teaching.
f. Only fear the LORD…for consider what great things He has done for you: All our service, all our obedience, all our love for God should be put in this context. We do it because of the great things He has done for us. We don’t serve God so as to persuade Him to do great things for us. He has done great things and asks us to receive them by faith. Then we serve Him because of the great things He has done for us.
i. We can only keep perspective in our Christian lives if we keep focused on what great things He has done for us. If we lose perspective, everything is distorted. Many people tend to magnify their problems and lose sight of what great things He has done for us.
g. If you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away: This warning became the sad legacy of Israel when they were conquered and taken from the land in captivity.
i. “Never was a people more fully warned, and never did a people profit less by the warning.” (Clarke)
(Guzik)
Prayer and Warning!
Spurgeon’s commentary on prayer is insightful with the picture of bowing before the mercy-seat! With Samuel, prayer came naturally but with me, I admit requires effort because of the way my brain is wired. It’s like I’m thinking of ten things at once and at times it becomes hard to focus on one thing. But the Lord made me this way and He knows my effort and intentions. Intercession for someone is a good thing and when someone asks for prayer I try to do it immediately.
Clarke’s comment is also insightful!
How many of us heed the Lord’s warnings let alone learn from them?
“But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
I fear our nation is headed down this path.
Please pray for our country that we repent and return to the Lord.
Blessings
No comments:
Post a Comment