1 Samuel 12:20 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Samuel 12:20

Comments

There are some glorious statements in these final verses of the chapter. He reassures them on the basis that God is a forgiving God, who has patience such as we find hard to measure. Yes, they have provoked him, and after the rain and the thunder they have caught a glimpse of the extent of their provocation. They certainly have reason to fear that God will simply punish them without remedy, but Samuel assures them it is not so. They must not be so overwhelmed with their fault that they give up altogether, and cease serving the Lord. They must not turn aside to their idols out of discouragement or rebelliousness, but continue to fear the Lord. For their encouragement he tells them that God has chosen them as his people, and will not set them aside. He will do this for his name’s sakes, because Israel has a testimony to the whole world, and all the nations around them knew that they are the people of God. They cannot be abandoned without this reflecting on the name of the Lord. Although Israel would go into exile many years later – and God would allow the nations to say for a time that they were deserted by God – even then God would bring them back to their land for his name’s sake.

Application

In verse 24, he gives them a most beautiful exhortation which we can certainly apply to ourselves. Take every word. This could be a single devotion for us for a single evening: ‘Only fear the Lord.’ That comes first: respect him, reverence him. ‘And serve him.’ It’s not enough to worship the Lord. What are you called to be a believer for? To serve him. If only we could have the spirit of Hannah of old, who was pained because in her poor life she had no opportunity at all to do anything for the Lord. The only thing that poor woman could do was – and that seemed impossible – to bring forth a child for the Lord. So she was pained to do that. ‘And serve him in truth with all your heart.’ The words ‘in truth’ mean faithfully, not for show but out of desire to advance his cause. A better translation would be ‘faithfully serve him’, with ‘all your heart’. You could almost underline every phrase, every word here, ‘all your heart.’ It is no good getting full of feeling and concern to serve the Lord in some way, when you know there is a whole area of your time and ambitions you are keeping for yourself. ‘All your heart.’ And then the final duty: ‘Consider how great things he hath done for you.’ That's a complete message: just that verse, worthy of long consideration in private. ‘We love him because he first loved us’, says John.

‘Moreover, Samuel says, 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 right way.’ I remember reading in a paper published by a particular seminary in the USA, their theological journal, a man wrote an article and he said, strangely, ‘Nowhere in the Bible are we urged to pray for lost souls.’ We can surely think of various Scriptures which amounts to just that: praying for lost souls, but here is an example, because these people are certainly lost. Here in this verse it is described as a sin not to pray for the lost. Everyone who loves Christ, who is a child of God, must have a similar burden, and has a ministry of intercession as part of their private devotions. There are one or more people on your mind and on your heart, who you are currently praying for, who are lost. Every Christian should have a ministry of intercession, and Samuel put it this way: ‘God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you.’

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Introduction

1 Samuel 12:20 Commentary and Bible Study