I Samuel Chapter 12

Please read:  I Samuel 12 –

A great leader will care for the needs of the people he leads over his own needs.  This was evident in the life of Samuel.  He wanted to see the people follow the Lord with their whole heart.  And as a great leader he wanted to leave them with some words of wisdom at the precipice of Israel becoming a nation with a human king like all the other nations.  Samuel wanted the people to recognize in making this decision, they had rejected his godly leadership but more importantly they had rejected The KING.

Let's Reflect

1.  Samuel asked the people if he had done anything to defraud them.  Samuel was proving to the people that he had been a good judge for them.  Their desire to have an earthly king made no sense.  Samuel put it in the form of a question so that the people would think about what he was saying and respond.  How did they respond when he asked them if he had defrauded them in any way?

2.  Then he moved forward with the same line of thinking.  He reminded the people that God had not defrauded them either.  God had always been there for them when they got into trouble and cried out for His help.  According to verse 7 what did Samuel declare to the people of Israel about God?

3.  Despite the goodness and mercy of God, what did Samuel say the people did?  See verse 9.

4.  According to verse 10 the people even went a step further committing sins against God that He had commanded them not to do.  What did they do?

5.  God raised up strong leaders, judges like Samuel who did what for the people?  See verse 11.

6.  It was as if Samuel was saying, “with all this history of how you have rejected the Lord your God and yet He rescued you many times, you still think you need to have a king.”  And then Samuel gave them the formula for success.  God was going to allow them to have a king, but to be a successful nation they would need to do what?

7.  Just to make it crystal clear who was really in charge of Israel, (not a king); Samuel prayed and asked God to do what?

8.  The people were afraid.  “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 __________________________________.